WESTSIDE — Are you ready for "Jamzilla?"
Transportation officials are advising the public to be aware of an 80-hour closure on the 405 Freeway beginning Friday at 10 p.m..
Closures are scheduled to run through Tuesday at 6 a.m.
"It's been a long, hard road on the 405 Freeway project, but the long-running construction effort is finally nearing the finish line. With work expected to be substantially complete by this summer, there are still some major hurdles to overcome — like this weekend's 80-hour lane closure known as ‘Jamzilla,'" said County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
The closure consists of a partial daytime lane reduction and a full nighttime closure of the freeway's northbound lanes between Getty Center Drive and Ventura Boulevard. Approximately 5.6 miles long, the closure equals two-thirds of the length of the entire I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is managing the $1.1-billion freeway-widening project that will include more miles of carpool lanes.
During daytime hours, two northbound lanes will remain open while three lanes will be closed. During nighttime hours, all five northbound freeway lanes will be closed. While the southbound lanes will remain open during daytime hours of the closure, some reductions may occur during nighttime hours.
Sections of the closure will reopen as they are completed. Updates are available at Twitter and Facebook. Call 511 during the closure weekend and say "Jamzilla" or visit go511.com for real-time traffic updates.
Sepulveda Boulevard will remain at full capacity during the closure, although that street does not have the capacity to move all the traffic diverted from the northbound lane closures.
Traffic control officers provided by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation will help guide drivers at each I-405 northbound on-ramp.
Transportation officials ask drivers detouring from the closed I-10 connectors to use freeways rather than local streets.
Previous 405 Freeway closures didn't result in the snarled traffic some had anticipated.
Hopefully history repeats itself.
daniela@www.smdp.com
