Lifestyle Official: Los Angeles ‘Car-mageddon’ Possible with I-405 Closure
Only in Los Angeles could a weekend freeway closure be compared to the end of the world.
Authorities will close Interstate 405 to do road work in July, and they took the step Monday of issuing a dire warning a full month ahead of time because of the potential traffic nightmare it could cause on one of the nation’s busiest freeways.
“This doesn’t need to be a car-mageddon,” county Supervisor Zev Yaroslovsky said at a news conference. “The best alternative route is to totally avoid the 405 area, completely avoid it, don’t come anywhere near it, don’t even think about coming to it. Stay the heck out of here.”
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa inadvertently made a point about the congestion, showing up a half-hour late because, you guessed it, there was heavy traffic on the freeway.
“If you think it’s bad now, let me just make something absolutely clear: On July 16th and 17th, it will be an absolute nightmare,” Villaraigosa said in a parking lot overlooking the freeway, where morning traffic sounded like a rushing river.