Carmageddon is nigh!

[JRM]

Curious to see how widespread this news is. I've been contacted about it by people from NoCal, as well as the East Coast. For 50+ hours this coming weekend, a 10 mile stretch of the 405 Freeway through LA -- the busiest and most congested highway in the US, if not North America -- will be shut down until 6am Monday for a demolition project. It is being hailed as "Carmageddon," "Traffipocalypse," and a myriad other bad puns, and is expected to cause major snarls and delays on neighboring freeways and surface streets. Many Angelenos are fleeing town as a result, restaurants and hotels are offering deals, and life as we know it will come to an end!...

Read all about it here (including a link to the required "Hitler Raves About Carmageddon" video):

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011 ... subway.php

[Pego]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

Hey, this LA Weekly is one cool site. Among the top headlines.
"Casey Anthony porn video..."
"Sexually active homeless guys..."

[JRM]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

Hey, this LA Weekly is one cool site. Among the top headlines.
"Casey Anthony porn video..."
"Sexually active homeless guys..."

Thanks for killing the thread, Pego.

[marknhj]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

I lived in LA for twenty-one years and can't imagine the 405 shutting down. For around seven of those years I commuted thirty plus miles each way on it and referred to it not-so-lovingly as the four-oh-fucking five, it is busy 24 hours a day. It played a significant part in my decision to move in 2006! That stretch goes up the hill en route to the Valley, past The Getty. Sounds like a nightmare scenario to me...

(btw - the LA Weekly is part of the Village Voice group of free weekly papers and is a must-read for anyone who likes to have a social life in the city. pego - it won a Pulitzer a few years ago )

[kuha]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

For the stretch in question, my default was always Sepulveda--far less insanity than the 405.

[marknhj]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

For the stretch in question, my default was always Sepulveda--far less insanity than the 405.

Last summer I drove over to the Getty from Hollywood at around 5-ish on a Saturday. Had no idea there was a free parking deal after 5pm and got trapped on Sep-ul-fucking-veda for 45 minutes with all the cheapskate tourists avoiding the $15 parking fee! LA has traffic...

[gh]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

I've got friends in LA who say that light rail is a decent option, but I'm guessing it's highly dependent on where you're going from/to, given the typical U.S. lack of infrastructure to flesh out mass transit.

[Davidokun]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

Roads to avoid when 'Carmageddon' closes 405 Freeway

[wamego relays champ]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

For the stretch in question, my default was always Sepulveda--far less insanity than the 405.

Not this weekend. According to authorities:

"Those using Sepulveda Bl should expect extreme congestion and lengthy delays. Motorists should instead use alternate regional freeway routes to completely bypass the Sepulveda Pass."

The warnings are everywhere and have been for a few weeks. Many who lived in LA during the 1984 Olympic Games compare the hype to the gridlock expectations fanned by the media at that time, which resulted in 16 days of blissfully light traffic.
.

[26mi235]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

Yes, but for the Olympics there were no major reductions in the 'carrying' capacity of the system. As several have noted, the volume of traffic "off-peak" on that freeway is stunning.

I left for the last time n 1986, but even then I rarely drove around the basin that much but stayed close to home, commuted by bike, etc..

[Pego]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

Hey, this LA Weekly is one cool site. Among the top headlines.
"Casey Anthony porn video..."
"Sexually active homeless guys..."

Thanks for killing the thread, Pego.

Sorry for acting like a juvenile jerk.

[mike renfro]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

When I was driving home from Eugene, there were electronic signs warning of this as far north as Bakersfield cutoff. That was a month in advance. I imagine that in LA, a lot more. When coming south on I5, I do the I210-I20-I15 route. A bit further, but a whole lot less traffic.

[wamego relays champ]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

I've got friends in LA who say that light rail is a decent option

How's this for a mass transit option: $4 flights on Jet Blue from Long Beach to Burbank. (About 37 miles).

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_18469794

Two thoughts:

A brilliant marketing idea for Jet Blue, it looks like it sold out in a few hours.

I can't imagine going through TSA security just to take a short flight like that.
.

[Davidokun]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

When coming south on I5, I do the I210-I20-I15 route.

I20?

[JRM]

Re: Carmageddon is nigh!

When coming south on I5, I do the I210-I20-I15 route.

I20?

I'm sure he meant I-10.