Wanda on our Facebook Page has been giving me hell about my prediction that this is going to be a nonevent event. For those of you living on the dark side of the moon, the 405 Freeway, the major artery between the West Side of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, is going to be closed for some construction work from midnight tonight until Monday Morning at 6 AM.
Of course the local press has gone nuts predicting the worst traffic jams since who knows when. Gridlock, people won’t be able to get to hospitals, death, mayhem, and the like. They think that the 200,000 or so cars a day that use the freeway are going to be dumped on surface streets and well…Carmageddon.
I live in the belly of this beast. My house is half a mile from the 405 and near the last on ramp before the closure. The expectation is that the streets in my neighborhood are going to be jammed for the next two days.
I had to drive to the SF Valley today, a round trip that usually takes me about an hour and a half. It took less than an hour. There is no one on the freeways. Maximum freeway speeds everywhere. I drove through downtown LA, never hit the brakes. It was incredible. What is going on?
I’ll tell you what is going on. People are adjusting. They are taking time off. They are leaving for short weekend vacations. They are staying home.
So I repeat. This is going to be the best two traffic days in LA in history. We will be able to move about freely. No problems. There will be a traffic accident on some street corner and 50 newscopters will flood the sky. But that will be it. Sure come Sunday pm, people will realize that the driving world hasn’t come to an end and will begin venturing out. And things will get a little more dicey.
I must go back to the valley tomorrow AM to attend a wedding, Andy has to go to Ventura for an event and would normally take the 405. I will get first hand information and report over the weekend.
Carmageddon, Bah!
JVH
