Carmaggedon.
So, next week, they're shutting down the entire 405 up in the Sepulveda pass.
Not like, hey, we'll close a few lanes down, shut down. Shut down as in they're completely shutting down all lanes in each direction. They're, I don't know, blowing up a bridge or something. Building a bridge? It's to make room for a carpool lane, which is all good.
The metro area that passes for LA is huge. As in, well, LA county is, famously about three times larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. We really, really depend on our freeways, and frankly in that part of LA, that's really the only game in town, so traffic will suck more than usual.
The 405, for reasons that don't bear examination at this juncture, now routinely handles a lot more traffic volume than it was ever built for. (Short version of those reasons: when LA was developed, more of the population lived in the central or eastern part of the city, but over time, population has shifted west, but the freeway infrastructure has not caught up. The 405 is basically the westernmost interstate in the area.)
I'm sure for people who commute, this is going to suck.
My circle of friends? Was mostly like "Dude, that's the weekend the last Harry Potter movie opens. I'm not planning on going anywhere other than my local movie theater anyway."
What amazes me about this is that it reminds me of how a little regional perspective changes everything.
I watched the O.J. Simpson slow speed chase as it happened, but at the time, I was on the east coast. I happened to be at my mom's place that night, and I was in the middle of doing laundry, and I'm pretty sure coverage of that broke into other programming. Once it was on, it was like a train wreck; I couldn't look away.
I remember being a little weirded out by the fact that it was like bright daylight there while it was dark(ish) where I was. This was before time zone math was a daily thing for me.
For reasons that really don't bear exploring at this juncture, I ended up rewatching the chase in a communication class in grad school. By then, I'd been living in LA for a few years.
The footage had a totally different effect on me. That time, I was all "Holy crap! He shut down THE ENTIRE 405 freeway! On a Friday afternoon! During rush hour!"
Suddenly, I realized that I had actually low-balled the significance of this event, sitting in a living room on the east coast. I had no idea how much traffic we were talking about.
So, really. Shutting down the entire 405 is a huge deal. So huge we've adopted that unfortunate need to name it something special. You east coasters had Snowpocalypse?
The locals are calling the planned shut down Carmeggedon. And no doubt,it's going to suck.
I am secretly pleased that they picked a weekend that, like most of my friends, I expect to be sleeping in post HP viewing and generally not going far from home.
I'm much crankier that, frankly, the whole thing sounds like it's another example of the rich folks in so Cal getting what they want. (See also, take off procedures at John Wayne Airport.)
So, you know, in case you're from out of town and had plans to head this way next weekend, my advice? Don't.
Watching Angelino/as unable to access the 405 is like Bay Area peeps being unable to use the Bay Bridge. It's not gong to be pretty.
But I'm still amused by the whole dire sounding warnings we've been getting for months.
Not like, hey, we'll close a few lanes down, shut down. Shut down as in they're completely shutting down all lanes in each direction. They're, I don't know, blowing up a bridge or something. Building a bridge? It's to make room for a carpool lane, which is all good.
The metro area that passes for LA is huge. As in, well, LA county is, famously about three times larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. We really, really depend on our freeways, and frankly in that part of LA, that's really the only game in town, so traffic will suck more than usual.
The 405, for reasons that don't bear examination at this juncture, now routinely handles a lot more traffic volume than it was ever built for. (Short version of those reasons: when LA was developed, more of the population lived in the central or eastern part of the city, but over time, population has shifted west, but the freeway infrastructure has not caught up. The 405 is basically the westernmost interstate in the area.)
I'm sure for people who commute, this is going to suck.
My circle of friends? Was mostly like "Dude, that's the weekend the last Harry Potter movie opens. I'm not planning on going anywhere other than my local movie theater anyway."
What amazes me about this is that it reminds me of how a little regional perspective changes everything.
I watched the O.J. Simpson slow speed chase as it happened, but at the time, I was on the east coast. I happened to be at my mom's place that night, and I was in the middle of doing laundry, and I'm pretty sure coverage of that broke into other programming. Once it was on, it was like a train wreck; I couldn't look away.
I remember being a little weirded out by the fact that it was like bright daylight there while it was dark(ish) where I was. This was before time zone math was a daily thing for me.
For reasons that really don't bear exploring at this juncture, I ended up rewatching the chase in a communication class in grad school. By then, I'd been living in LA for a few years.
The footage had a totally different effect on me. That time, I was all "Holy crap! He shut down THE ENTIRE 405 freeway! On a Friday afternoon! During rush hour!"
Suddenly, I realized that I had actually low-balled the significance of this event, sitting in a living room on the east coast. I had no idea how much traffic we were talking about.
So, really. Shutting down the entire 405 is a huge deal. So huge we've adopted that unfortunate need to name it something special. You east coasters had Snowpocalypse?
The locals are calling the planned shut down Carmeggedon. And no doubt,it's going to suck.
I am secretly pleased that they picked a weekend that, like most of my friends, I expect to be sleeping in post HP viewing and generally not going far from home.
I'm much crankier that, frankly, the whole thing sounds like it's another example of the rich folks in so Cal getting what they want. (See also, take off procedures at John Wayne Airport.)
So, you know, in case you're from out of town and had plans to head this way next weekend, my advice? Don't.
Watching Angelino/as unable to access the 405 is like Bay Area peeps being unable to use the Bay Bridge. It's not gong to be pretty.
But I'm still amused by the whole dire sounding warnings we've been getting for months.