(I-405) Los Angeles Freeway Is Closed and Life Goes On

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

LOS ANGELES — The warnings had been grim: a knot of traffic stretching from the Pacific Ocean to downtown Los Angeles. Motorists struggling to make it from West Los Angeles across the Sepulveda Pass into the San Fernando Valley. A display of gridlock that would drain even the most hardened Los Angeles commuter, all caused by the weekend closing of a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 405.

Instead, people in Los Angeles woke up Saturday to something many had rarely if ever seen: empty streets. And while there was justifiable concern that things could go sour before I-405 was opened again on Monday morning — city officials, watching the helicopter shots of empty highways on the news, were quickly warning of complacency — it seemed like the crisis of “Carmageddon,” as it was called, might end up being averted, or at least exaggerated.

“It’s going better than expected — we are a little bit ahead of schedule, and the streets in the area are either below normal or normal, but not in any way problematic,” Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa said in an interview on Saturday morning. “I’m not surprised. But I want to be absolutely clear: we’re not over the hump, and we’re going to monitor this all the way through tomorrow evening.”

The intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Interstate 405 was desolate early Saturday, save for a few bored-looking police officers, busy keeping skateboarders from sneaking onto the highway to take photos of themselves doing tricks. A trickle of people with cameras showed up — on foot or on bicycle — to get photographs of what might reasonably called, at least for this weekend, the Eighth Wonder of the World: I-405 without a single vehicle on it.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/us/17freeway.html

[AsahinaKimi]

1. I had friends from back east asking me

"Whats up with the 405 Interstate..its closed!, Whats it like there??" I had to remind them that I live in San Francisco, and the 405 doesn't extend this far north.

[JHB]

2. Noooooooo!!!!

They promised us Carmageddon! Robot dinosaurs eating cars!
For the love of God, where are the flames?!?!?!?!?

[Tunkamerica]

4. Carnimal attacks on Carmageddon

caramelgeddon is when the streets run with caramel

Camelgeddon will see camels spontaneously exploding

Sharmageddon:

[kestrel91316]

3. LA Metro's website has LIVE VIDEO FEED of the work:

http://www.metro.net/projects/I-405/july-16-17-live-feed/

And from what I can tell, people are staying home in droves, and the freeways and nearby streets have been nearly empty since yesterday midday. Exactly according to plan.

We're not complete twits here ALL the time, lol.

[drm604]

6. That's pretty much what I was thinking.

The whole "carmageddon" thing was a publicity campaign by the highway department to scare people into staying home.

[DBoon]

5. In Texas this would be called "carmadillo"

nt

[Chipper Chat]

7. In Indiana it would be called......

"cornmageddon"

[Iggo]

9. In Soviet Russia...

...yeah, I got nothin'.

[Tunkamerica]

11. Car drives you

[Iggo]

12. There ya go!

:fistbump:

[Tunkamerica]

13. What a country!

[nolabear]

8. ZOMG! They went the other way!

There is hope, America. There. is. hope.

[bluestateguy]

10. People have had months to plan accordingly for this one weekend

If they didn't plan ahead they have no one to blame but themselves.

[senseandsensibility]

14. Good to know.

eom