|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Los Angeles braces for `Carmageddon'
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Container
|
| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Jul 14, 2011 11:08pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | Amusing |
| Author | Bruce Newman |
| Media | Newspaper - San Jose Mercury News |
| News Date | Friday, July 15, 2011 05:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | "During the morning and evening crawl that Los Angeles commuters refer to -- with bitter irony that most don't even attempt to conceal -- as the "rush hour," there is one paved snake pit that drivers there loathe above all others: The 405.
"Most people go through their lives trying to avoid the 405," Caltrans district director Mike Miles conceded this week.
Beginning at midnight Friday, when 10 miles of Interstate 405 are closed so construction crews can tear down a bridge on one side, and begin a $1 billion widening project on the other, a traffic snarl so angry and epic is expected to erupt that even local officials have given in to calling it "Carmageddon." The freeway, which typically carries 500,000 cars through the Sepulveda Pass every weekend, is scheduled to reopen at 6 a.m. Monday.
By then, doctors will have bivouacked with patients at hospitals and a state-of-the-art police command post will be able to lower the threat level from Defcon 5.
Observing from a safe distance, motorists in the Bay Area are advised to stay away and enjoy the view. They are likely to witness a stop-and-go carnival of rage, featuring a detour from hell and drivers who finally will be able to text behind the wheel. TURN BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE:-(
Interstate 405 is the main north-south conduit between the San Fernando Valley's vast sprawl and L.A.'s tonier precincts, such as Beverly Hills and Bel-Air. They are neighbors with so little in common that as recently as 2002, the Valley launched a ballot initiative seeking to secede from Los Angeles.
Despite all the official hyperventilating and the catchy name, however, nobody is sure if what one county supervisor has preemptively dubbed "the mother of all traffic jams" will be any different than a normal weekday commute on the frustrating 405." |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
