JCC Carmageddon 2: Carmageddon

This weekend 10 miles of the nation's busiest freeway, the 405 in LA, is closing again.

Last year, no one got on the road so it was the lightest traffic in memory. I suspect this might lead to too much optimism this weekend and thus traffic. My roommate has to work in Santa Monica on Saturday and we live on the other side of the city. I pity her.

Personally, I got out and am in Santa Barbara for the weekend. I saw signs warning of the closure on the 101 as far north as Oxnard, which is 80 miles away or so.

 

I hope you had actual plans to be in Santa Barbara this weekend, and didn't just go there because of this Carmageddon business. Though the tearing down of the remainder of that Mulholland Dr. bridge may take a bit longer than what happened last year, I suspect that what happened last summer will indeed happen again this weekend: there will not be a single traffic problem. Despite the L.A. geek in me getting all sorts of excited last year with the hype about this, it did get to be too much/ridiculous when the time came for the closure... the joy this time around is hearing the folks over at KFI (radio) making fun of Carmageddon II. I did try earlier tonight (as this exact stretch of the 405 is how me & a dear friend get to our favorite hookah spot here in town) to get a picture of that bridge, but failed miserably. Having gone to this hookah spot so many times over the past year, there have been many nights where we had to take detours/alternate exits to get/eventually leave there. Tonight was the first time in quite awhile in which we were able to use the normal exit/entrance, and we were very pleased by that.

 

I know everyone thinks it'll be fine this time. But I worry that attitude will make it worse

And yeah I already had plans to go to SB. I just went a little early.

 

At least your state actually warned you long in advance and had a plan in place for closing the highway. Virginia on the other hand.

 

Come to Corona and get a tattoo with me and DWH!!

 

I so wish I was there for Carmageddon. I still regret not buying the tshirts being sold for the first round.

 

Looks like another clear traffic day on the 405. Not so much the 5 but hey, the 5 is usually awful.

 

Thank God. I was so wor--

 

My biggest issue with the 5 is the Stadium Way (for Dodger Stadium) exit... for whatever reason, there's a thru traffic lane before the actual off ramp, so you have to cross 2 lines to get off the freeway instead of 1. It's a big pain in the ass.*




*For whoever is driving that day for the game, since I yet possess a license/an automobile.

 

Yeah but that makes it easy to scoot over and go around traffic there when the freeway is busy. Not that I'd ever do that

The real 5 problems are in the south towards Orange County.


Can I confess now I mostly wanted to make this thread so that I could make the AD reference?

 

The 5 between downtown and the 605 is almost always awful. The 710 to the 91 is a useful shortcut if you're trying to get to the coast.