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Eric Thayer / Reuters file
In this file photo, a portion of the 405 freeway is vacant of cars in Los Angeles, Calif., during a weekend closure dubbed "Carmageddon," on July 16, 2011.
As officials in Los Angeles get ready for another weekend closure of a section of the famously-crowded 405 freeway in late September, they're doing things a little differently this time around.
Los Angeles residents were bombarded with urgent warnings last summer, when a heavily-traveled part of Interstate 405 was closed down for weekend construction. "The 405" is the nation's busiest freeway. Southern Californians largely heeded the recommendations to stay off the 10-mile stretch for the 53-hour closure, and "Carmageddon" never lived up to its name.
Later this month, Los Angeles is bracing for another closure of the 405, between Interstate 10 and U.S. 101, on the weekend of Sept. 29. It's already being dubbed "Carmageddon II," but officials are not depending on scare tactics alone this time, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"We realized that you couldn't do what we did the first time the second time quite the same way," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said, according to the Times. "(Researchers) said this time around you can't scare people away from the area, it's better to encourage them to stay home ... That's why we're encouraging you to stay local, shop, eat, walk in your neighborhood."
While things went relatively smoothly in last summer's closure, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority worries about complacency and says risk factors are exactly the same this time, spokesman Dave Sotero told NBC News. "Our concern is that the public will think that this will be a cakewalk," he said.
That's why officials are still getting the word out via advertising campaigns and news conferences to encourage "Angelenos" to enjoy a car-free weekend.
If drivers ignore the warnings and still hit the road, a worst-case scenario would result in extreme congestion and multi-hour delays, Sotero said. On a typical weekend, half a million drivers use the 10-mile portion of I-405. The goal, according to Sotero, is to get at least two-thirds of the traffic off roads for the closure.
"Now we did this last year and Angelenos heeded our call to stay out of their cars. In fact they did such a great job that afterward we called it Carmaheaven," Villaraigosa said at a news conference Tuesday, according to the LA Times.
Businesses across the city are offering incentives and discounts for people to stay close to home.
"You don’t have to kill the economy on Carmageddon weekend, but you can explore your neighborhood by foot , or ride a bike or use public transit," Sotero said.
Related from NBCLosAngeles.com: Did Carmageddon make way for a baby boom?
Closures will begin on the evening of Friday, Sept. 28 and the freeway closure is expected to continue until the morning of Monday, Oct. 1.
The closure is part of a $1 billion construction project, where contractors will complete demolition work of the Mulholland Bridge in order to widen the 405 freeway in LA. Sections of northbound 405 will be closed this weekend for 10 hours as crews prepare for the final demolition phase, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.
NBCLosAngeles.com's Jonathan Lloyd and John Cadiz Klemack, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this story.
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Isn't that the GOP voter ID initiative works??
Barf.....
If you want to make this a political issue, then so be it.
The Progressives~Democrats want ANYONE to show up for voting.....and they even go to graveyards to "sequester" dead individuals....but the target group of the Progressives~Democrats is the Illegal Aliens (Immigrants) who don't have a valid U.S. I.D. and the Progressives~Democrats will even bus them to polling places with a Black Panther guard.
That is why the Progressives~Democrats don't want any voter I.D. law, it will "meddle" into their voting groupies.
Voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 ? Embarrassed yet ?
Romney-Ryan 2012 to take back America from the Progressives and the Radicals.
I find it amusing that California is always looking down their nose at the rest of the country for not being "green" enough and yet they own more cars per capita than the rest of the nation. So which is it hypocrites, are you green or not? If you are dump that third and forth car and stop using more gasoline than the rest of the nation combined and polluting more than every one else.
@ldo
I was about to +1 your comment, then I read the last line. RINO Romney will be just another dissapointment.
Los Angeles is the new capital of Mexico. If you are downtown and need directions, good luck on finding someone who can speak English. Also, if you notice that picture up above, that is the best it gets on visibilty. That haze/smog you see never goes away. It costs trillions of dollars to get it to look that good over the last 20 plus years. It's not going to get any better. Everything else they are piling on now is strictly EPA and state regulations overkill to make you pay more. Welcome to California, another broke blue state.
Will Villaraigosa ever stop talking.
You mean the name that the mainstream media gave it and repeated endlessly in the weeks before it happened? Way to shift the blame for your own hype falling flat. It appears some parts of the country are more sensible than to fall for this apocalyptic crap than others.
The whole "Carmageddon" thing was funny.
Vivalaraza knows if he stops talking for a minute people will have a chance to realize he never says anything meaninful.
2013 we wave bye-bye to loose lips useless Villaraigosa. Asta Baby!!!
Couldn't happen to a better area. The land of fruits, nuts and bankruptcies, both city and state.
I guess it beats the land of rednecks, swamps and Bible thumpers.
A protological exam by Captain Hook beats rednecks and bible thumpers any day.
Swamps are fine.
I'm glad you think California deserves a billion dollar infrastructure upgrade and the jobs that go along with it. I do too, yet I don't feel the need to insult 38 million people from the safety of my keyboard.
I do. The infrastructure is falling to pieces partly because of the extra illegal population there. Same reason applies for the bankruptcies and strained budget.
Yup, California, the Granola state, What ain't nuts and fruits is flakes.
38 million residents. 5 million americans and 33 million illegal aliens and Nancy Pelosi
The Union maintained infrastructure is a joke. Cal Trans should be called Coors Trans. You'd s#it yourself if you knew the quality of work they do. You better have a blood relative if you want a job in any Public Sector Union or be the right ethnicity for a particular job. Kinda like our Gangs. The Rusted State will be the first State in the Union to declare bankruptcy. As a life long Californian, I'm begging the Feds NOT to bail us out.
Indio;
Then, by all means, make your appointment today. Have a Gerbil while your at it.
I used to live in L.A.county.I moved because of the traffic congestion.People who are savvy know how to navigate California via other routes.
Can't wait for the Aceman to go off on this.
HAHA! He's gonna give 'ol Tony Villar an ear-full. Click-it-or-Ticket!...LOLOLOLOL!
LA could use more of a shop local mentality all the time. Land of soul-killing suburbs.
I once worked in LA for two months straight, rarely used the freeways once I learned my way around. The 5 was nothing but a parking lot at the rush hours.
This is a joke. Last year when this happend out here in LA it really didn't effect the traffic that much. Even the mayor office said they were sorry for the hype last year.
A great big non-event.
Carmageddon sounds appropriate for California.
You would have to raise the price of gas to 100 dollars a gallon for the time I-405 is under construction to get people to stay home or walk in California.
...and they have the best weather in the country!
Yes!You have plenty of time to enjoy it cruising along at 10 mph on your 80 mile 4 hour round trip commute.
Glliegee, you might want to do the math on that one, HaHa. But you got the idea!
Occasionally working out of LA seeing the morning and evening traffic I always wondered why those working in the north didn't move north and those working in the south didn't move south. Then kids could use the freeway for skateboarding.
"By a 2/3 majority, the ayes have it... Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and you won't have any problems driving during contsruction."
Who gives a rats rear! Having this headline on a national/global news venue while the Middle East melts down is just plain valley-girl OMGaaaaawd.
PLEASE!!!!
It's amusing how over-blown EVERYTHING is in southern California.
If there is a soft shower, since they get no practice, it's the "END OF THE WORLD!" Whereas in Portland, OR. or Seattle, WA. we get practice aplenty and no one freaks out. To spaz-out is One Foolish Idea!
Wow, LA without Smog Alerts. Can it really be true?
Relax folks - only an issue if your live "on the other side" and have to get from West side to East side or vice versa.
Had to make an in-promptu run last year from Pasadena to Calabasas. What a joy to do the drive in 30 min instead of 60 (yes I as going a bit faster,but there was NO ONE ELSE on the freeway due to Carmageddon). Relax folks. It's one weekend - not an eternity. Find a way around the freeway if you need to leave your bubble. Otherwise, business as usual with congested freeways and surface streets.
Why is this a major story on MSNBC? I forgot, it's MNBC - site of "we have nothing better to print".
Carmageddon II, will be pretty much a non event. It's happening over the weekend. During the closure, people living on the north side can go to the beaches, parks, and mountains stretching from Malibu to Oxnard, those south and west of the have many parks and beaches from Santa Monica to Newport. People living on the east side won't hardly be affect at all, let's go to Vegas. No special events going on. With all that is going on in the world it has to be a be a rather slow news day in the US.
The busiest, most congested highway in North America is highway 401 in Toronto.
Google it and you'll see.
the price of prosperity I suppose......
In honor of Carmageddon II, here is a music video!
"Can't Believe The 405!" is a funny spin on R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" about this fateful stretch of road. Check it out at:
Finally, a tune that Los Angelenos can proudly sing in their cars, if they don't already in their hearts. Please share if you like!
Godspeed this weekend, everyone!!