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Carmageddon 2 4057/7/2023 ‘If you come on in and mention you're in town because you're stuck from Carmageddon, you can get 15 per cent off tattoos and piercings,’ proprietor Howard Teman said.Ī few planned to take discounted helicopter rides over the empty stretch of the 405 and several dozen others have $4 to $5 tickets to board special JetBlue flights between Long Beach Airport and Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. Those who do want that real road warrior look might consider swinging by T-Man's Tattoos (located just off the 405) in the San Fernando Valley. ‘When I left work, it was like a no man's land,’ Mr Dorsh later said.ĭestruction: Workers operate on the Mulholland bridge during the partial demolition of the bridge over the 405 No traffic in L.A.,’ tweeted Chip Dorsh, who said he breezed through a canyon road to get from his job in Culver City to the San Fernando Valley. Motorists took to Twitter to marvel at the rare sight of traffic maps showing a sea of green, indicating that traffic was flowing. With warnings having been broadcast through television, radio, social media and flashing freeway signs as far away as San Francisco, most of the city's nearly 4 million residents appear ready to stay off the roads.Ĭrews systematically began closing on- and off-ramps beginning at 7pm on Friday then began lane closures at 10pm, before the entire 10-mile section that runs through the Sepulveda Pass was closed at midnight.Įvening rush-hour traffic was light in the hours before the shutdown. Locals like to joke that the road’s name is shorthand for ‘traffic that moves no faster than 4 or 5 miles an hour’. Such an event could back up vehicles from the 405 to surface streets and other freeways, causing a domino effect that could paralyse much of Los Angeles. Taken apart: The 53-hour bridge demolition project will test whether such a car-dependent city can change its driving habits for a weekendįor weeks, authorities have urged residents to avoid getting in their car and triggering what has been hyped as ‘Carmageddon'. Local and long-distance freeway traffic through the mountains has to squeeze through Sepulveda Pass on I-405 or about five miles to the east through Cahuenga Pass, which carries U.S. The populous San Fernando Valley lies on the north side, and the Los Angeles Basin sprawls to the south. The city is divided by the Santa Monica Mountains, which stretch more than 40 miles from near downtown westward through Malibu. The potential for Carmageddon is rooted in Los Angeles' geography. The event got its name when Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky told a press conference in June that ‘this doesn't need to be a Carmageddon’ if people avoided driving. Another closure will be required in the future to demolish the north side.Īuthorities looking at the potential impacts of the $1billion interstate project spent months giving the public dire warnings. The plan is to leave the north-side lanes standing until the south side is rebuilt. Still driving: Traffic moves along Sepulveda Boulevard as a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 405 is shut down No cars: It was a 'Carmageddon' car-free Saturday at 12pm on the 405 at Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles Many mocked the frenzied language surrounding the closure, especially on Twitter. ‘Everybody's calling this weekend Carmageddon, but seeing the freeway empty it feels more post-apocalyptic,’ Ms Standish said. Gail Standish, 47, pedalled from Beverly Hills with her bicycling club to a 405 overlook a quarter-mile from the closed span. ‘We hope they still listen to what we're saying and not go out and try to drive through this area, because it is going to be congested if people do that,’ a California Department of Transportation spokesman said.Īuthorities closed the segment of 405 on the western side of Los Angeles at midnight Friday for 53 hours to allow partial demolition of a bridge. However some were concerned the lack of gridlock would make drivers complacent and spur them to return to the road before Monday's scheduled reopening. High view: One aerial photo, left, shows Interstate 405 and the on and off ramp at Sunset Blvd, and another, right, shows the on ramp from the 10 Freeway West to Interstate 405 North and the on and off ramp from the 405 freeway to the 10 Freeway going east and west
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