SoCal's Carmageddon

[TigerVols]

You think Hollywood hype's a blockbuster? Well, if you live in SoCal, you ain't seen nothing yet. Or maybe you have...on the freeway alert signs this weekend, warning of a "big traffic jam" -- a month in advance! Or maybe on the dozens of websites covering the upcoming disaster...yes, I'm talking about Carmageddon 2011 -- the closure of the 405 (San Diego) freeway between the 10 (Santa Monica Fwy) and the 101 (Ventura Fwy) over the weekend of July 16 and July 17.

http://www.metro.net/projects/I-405/

The hype's like a mashup of a Pope visit in the middle of a Lakers Championship Parade!

 

[MileHigh]

Yeah, I was out there this weekend and all the freeway signs -- and I was in the I.E. and the O.C. -- were flashing about this.

Just avoid LAX, UCLA and Santa Monica and ... yeah, it'll suck.

 

[poindexter]

It'll be like the '84 Olympics... people will avoid and it will be just fine...

Now, if they don't get finished by Sunday night - then there's gonna be problems.

 

[Bob Cook]

I thought at first you were talking about the hype for "Cars 2."

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Reading the thread title, I thought there was a new USC scandal involving athlete cars.

 

[Liut]

Reading the thread title, I thought there was a new USC scandal involving athlete cars.

Same here. Perhaps still to come.

 

[rpmmutant]

It'll be like the '84 Olympics... people will avoid and it will be just fine...

Now, if they don't get finished by Sunday night - then there's gonna be problems.

They won't finish by Sunday. It'll be a month before the freeways are back to normal, which isn't that promising. Avoid UCLA, Westwood, LAX and Santa Monica and everything will be fine.
Beach days in Ventura for me this summer.

 

[MileHigh]

In '84, just about everyone left town. Freeways were great for the Games.

 

[Shaggy]

There are about 3 million more people in LA now than there was 25 years ago.

If they don't get the 405 done in time--and I'm assuming they won't--then that will be an absolute nightmare. Hell, it's a nightmare when all lanes are open.

Related question: I was told that LA and Orange Counties, many years ago, got state funding to expand the I-5. And only Orange County did it. Is that true? If so, why didn't LA County? And where's the money?

 

[TigerVols]

There are about 3 million more people in LA now than there was 25 years ago.

If they don't get the 405 done in time--and I'm assuming they won't--then that will be an absolute nightmare. Hell, it's a nightmare when all lanes are open.

Related question: I was told that LA and Orange Counties, many years ago, got state funding to expand the I-5. And only Orange County did it. Is that true? If so, why didn't LA County? And where's the money?

The 5 has been widened north of the 91 for a few miles; it was a huge project that was only completed last year.

The remainder, mostly through Norwalk where it can be as thin as 4 lanes in either direction, will be widened by the end of the decade, thanks mostly to TIGER stimulus funds.

So, in other words, your original premise is mostly correct!

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist07/travel/projects/I-5/

 

[Brian]

Is carmageddon karmageddon?

 

[Football_Bat]

The 405 is a circle of hell unto itself. Isn't widening Sepulveda Pass like putting a Band-Aid on a shotgun wound?

 

[TigerVols]

There are about 3 million more people in LA now than there was 25 years ago.

If they don't get the 405 done in time--and I'm assuming they won't--then that will be an absolute nightmare. Hell, it's a nightmare when all lanes are open.

Related question: I was told that LA and Orange Counties, many years ago, got state funding to expand the I-5. And only Orange County did it. Is that true? If so, why didn't LA County? And where's the money?

The 5 has been widened north of the 91 for a few miles; it was a huge project that was only completed last year.

The remainder, mostly through Norwalk where it can be as thin as 4 lanes in either direction, will be widened by the end of the decade, thanks mostly to TIGER stimulus funds.

So, in other words, your original premise is mostly correct!

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist07/travel/projects/I-5/

Turns out they broke ground yesterday on the I-5 widening in LA County...

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_18333324

 

[poindexter]

btw, that stretch of 5 from the 91 past Angel Stadium is the sweetest stretch of freeway in so cal, congestion wise (excepting maybe the 2)

 

[westcoastvol]

It'll be like the '84 Olympics... people will avoid and it will be just fine...

Now, if they don't get finished by Sunday night - then there's gonna be problems.

They're gonna demo half of the overpass, rebuild/expand and then do the same thing next year-seems to be the same gameplan as the Sunset Blvd/405 overpass construction.

 

[Matt Stephens]

My Dad and sister are pretty much living off the PCH in Laguna this summer for work ... I'm sure they'll enjoy that going to Irvine.

 

[TigerVols]

btw, that stretch of 5 from the 91 past Angel Stadium is the sweetest stretch of freeway in so cal, congestion wise (excepting maybe the 2)

The 71 in Chino Hills is pretty wide and usually very empty (until it gets to the 91 bottleneck, but construction is starting on that any day now).

 

[rpmmutant]

btw, that stretch of 5 from the 91 past Angel Stadium is the sweetest stretch of freeway in so cal, congestion wise (excepting maybe the 2)

I'm a big fan of the 2. Best way to get to Dodger Stadium and Staples Center from the Valley.

 

[westcoastvol]

My LA pad is just off the 2. Great except going southbound in the mornings.

 

[SoCalDude]

My Dad and sister are pretty much living off the PCH in Laguna this summer for work ... I'm sure they'll enjoy that going to Irvine.

????

Laguna and Irvine are 50 miles south of the 405 at the 10. You don't even get on a freeway to go from Laguna to Irvine.