Politics & Government

L.A.-Bound this Weekend? Avoid 405 'Bridge Bash' Traffic Snarl

The 405 Freeway will be closed in both directions Saturday night through Sunday afternoon from the 605 to Valley View Street.

Huge jackhammers mounted on the jointed arms of earthmover-like vehicles will be knocking apart the 405 connector to the 22 Freeway this weekend, and Orange County officials are urging motorists to avoid the area during the accompanying 20-hour 405 closure.

"Instead of going to San Diego on the 405, use the [5 Freeway]," said OC Second District Supervisor John Moorlach at a Thursday press conference near the doomed connector. "Be creative; use your iPad. There are so many opportunities for us to have detours."

Moorlach referred to relatively light traffic that accompanied the 2011 freeway closure and demolition of the Mullholland Drive bridge in Los Angeles.

"The good thing about 'Carmageddon' is when it happened, it was a non-event," he said. "That's what we're hoping for here."

Lisa Ramsey, the District 12 deputy director for Caltrans, described the demolition process. First, some of the 70 workers on the project will lay steel plates on the roadbed below to protect the asphalt from falling debris.

Then, jackhammers will chip away at the concrete and workers will use cutting equipment to cut the steel cable embedded inside the connector, which now sees about 370,000 vehicles per day, she said.

The debris will be piled at the roadside for later recycling, Ramsey said.

The project will be finished late next year or early in 2015, said Orange County Transportation Authority CEO Darrell Johnson. The project will link carpool lanes from the 405 to the 22 and the 605, allowing a seamless transition without all the weaving among lanes motorists have had to navigate in the past, he said.

The $277-million project will smooth the traffic flow, add safety and save motorists an average of five to six minutes, Johnson said.

If you simply can't avoid the stretch of the 405 in question during the 9 p.m. Saturday to 5 p.m. Sunday closure, these detours will be open and marked:

Heading south on I-405 exit on Studebaker Road and then follow the signs. Or, merge onto I-605 north. Exit Katella Avenue and follow the signs.

Heading north on I-405, take the Beach Boulevard exit and follow the signs. Drivers can also take Valley View Street, but that exit is right at the closure, so there will likely be a bottleneck there.

Photos by Adam Townsend


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