Los Angeles Faces Carmageddon II

[LongBlade]

Apparently the 405 is going to be shut down for a bit.

Brace yourselves.

"Carmageddon II" -- the sequel -- is coming to one of the nation's most crowded freeways, and authorities are hoping its subtitle won't be "The Traffic Strikes Back."

Transportation officials say what they would like to see during the last weekend of September is a rerun of last year's two-day closure, when hundreds of thousands of motorists dodged doomsday predictions by staying away until the busy, 10-mile stretch of Interstate 405 reopened. It was one of the lightest freeway traffic weekends anyone in Los Angeles could remember.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/23/la-preps-for-freeway-closure-and-carmageddon-ii

[GDS_Starfury]

of 20 years of dealing with I-95 construction all I have to say is man up Jerkifornia.

[bayonetbrant]

^ let me tell you, until you've tried to drive around SoCal, especially during afternoon rush hour, you have -zero- frame of reference for the monumental volume of traffic you're talking about there.
I hate driving in DC, but that's an afternoon Raleigh commute compared to SoCal.  The sprawl is just so unbelievable...  You come down the pass from the high desert into San Bernardino, and head toward Santa Monica, and it's 3 hours of off-ramps and strip malls from Ontario to San Dimas to Monterey Park through LA to Santa Monica.  And if you try to go "around" the worst of the sprawl, well... you end up in Tijuana. 
Keep in mind, you're talking about stringing together 5-8 cities (not including LA proper) that each have the combined population of both Dakotas plus Wyoming.  And unlike DC, where there's a few waterways to constrict the sprawl (and therefore the traffic), there's none of that in SoCal, so people just spread out everywhere.
DC traffic is nuts, but SoCal's traffic is otherwordly.  There's probably as many cars south of the 805 area code and west of I215 as there are in Japan.

[LongBlade]

^ let me tell you, until you've tried to drive around SoCal, especially during afternoon rush hour, you have -zero- frame of reference for the monumental volume of traffic you're talking about there.
I hate driving in DC, but that's an afternoon Raleigh commute compared to SoCal.  The sprawl is just so unbelievable...  You come down the pass from the high desert into San Bernardino, and head toward Santa Monica, and it's 3 hours of off-ramps and strip malls from Ontario to San Dimas to Monterey Park through LA to Santa Monica.  And if you try to go "around" the worst of the sprawl, well... you end up in Tijuana. 
Keep in mind, you're talking about stringing together 5-8 cities (not including LA proper) that each have the combined population of both Dakotas plus Wyoming.  And unlike DC, where there's a few waterways to constrict the sprawl (and therefore the traffic), there's none of that in SoCal, so people just spread out everywhere.
DC traffic is nuts, but SoCal's traffic is otherwordly.  There's probably as many cars south of the 805 area code and west of I215 as there are in Japan.

Well put.

I lived in LA for a year. It's difficult to conceive of the vast space of metropolis if you haven't spent time there. You can drive at 70 mph for a couple of hours and never leave densely populated city.

[pawelj]

^ let me tell you, until you've tried to drive around SoCal, especially during afternoon rush hour, you have -zero- frame of reference for the monumental volume of traffic you're talking about there.
I hate driving in DC, but that's an afternoon Raleigh commute compared to SoCal.  The sprawl is just so unbelievable...  You come down the pass from the high desert into San Bernardino, and head toward Santa Monica, and it's 3 hours of off-ramps and strip malls from Ontario to San Dimas to Monterey Park through LA to Santa Monica.  And if you try to go "around" the worst of the sprawl, well... you end up in Tijuana. 
Keep in mind, you're talking about stringing together 5-8 cities (not including LA proper) that each have the combined population of both Dakotas plus Wyoming.  And unlike DC, where there's a few waterways to constrict the sprawl (and therefore the traffic), there's none of that in SoCal, so people just spread out everywhere.
DC traffic is nuts, but SoCal's traffic is otherwordly.  There's probably as many cars south of the 805 area code and west of I215 as there are in Japan.

Yeah man, but you got the weather.  ;)

[The Puss]

Thank LB for this post, will be driving for the first time in and around LA starting a week on Thursday. As Sir Alex Ferguson would say "it is squeaky bottom time".

[LongBlade]

Thank LB for this post, will be driving for the first time in and around LA starting a week on Thursday. As Sir Alex Ferguson would say "it is squeaky bottom time".

OK. Generally speaking the freeways are safe to drive, but be careful if you get off them on what in LA are called "surface streets."

Many places are fine to drive through, but there are bad elements of town where you don't want to go. Check with your local hotel or something to determine the best routes to go through the city. The 405 is a major artery through LA. The good news is that the last time this happened (according to the article) everyone actually *did* stay home and there was no congestion. Still, just be mindful of where you're going.

[The Puss]

My family are now driving me to Santa Barbara to pick up a hire car there. There goes the spirit of Mad Max, I feel like someone has ripped my balls off :(

[LongBlade]

My family are now driving me to Santa Barbara to pick up a hire car there. There goes the spirit of Mad Max, I feel like someone has ripped my balls off :(

The view from Santa Barbara will make up for it.