I-405 TO CLOSE ON JULY 16-17 FROM I-10 TO U.S. 101

 
This is Carmageddon! 

Daily traffic in L.A. may be worst in the nation, but you ain't seen nothing yet.

Suddenly, just a month-and-a-half before the largest closure of the 405 since it became the Westside's clogged lifeline -- carrying about 281,000 cars per day -- L.A. transportation officials have decided to come out and warn the universe of this impending doom.

Not in time, unfortunately, to save thousands of pre-booked vacations from ruin. The world-famous Getty Center, for one...

... will be forced to shut down entirely on Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17, along with its regular Monday closure. And the lockout couldn't come at a worse time: Getty spokeswoman Melissa Abraham says that of the 1.2 million visitors the museum receives every year, mid-July is "one of our busiest weekends."

Sorry, tourists. Guess you'll have to settle for them street-rat scribbles at MOCA.

Oh wait -- MOCA's situated right along the 101, that narrow relic of a freeway destined to take on the hundreds of thousands of pissy, honky drivers displaced from their normal route by the 53-hour summer closure.
The 405 will be completely shut down in both directions between the 101 and 10 freeways -- an insanely busy 10-mile stretch -- beginning the night of Friday, July 15 and ending 5 a.m. the following Monday morning. CalTrans explains why:

The I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project will add a 10-mile HOV lane and improve supporting infrastructure such as ramps, bridges and sound walls on the San Diego Fwy. (I-405); while widening lanes from the Santa Monica Fwy. (I-10) to the Ventura Fwy. (US-101). 

This project will reduce existing and forecasted traffic congestion on the I-405 and enhance traffic operations by adding freeway capacity in an area that experiences heavy congestion. In addition to these modifications, the project will improve both existing and future mobility and enhance safety throughout the corridor.

And don't even think about taking Sepulveda Boulevard, the 405's go-to surface-street alternative. "Sepulveda will be slammed," warns the Encino Neighborhood Council. "It will not be moveable."

Better yet, as L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is urging, just stay home for the potential "mother of all traffic jams."

I'm very lucky as I will be out of LA for Tokyo In Tusla. God bless anime conventions!