Carmageddon II raises traffic concerns...to the sky?
If you live in Southern California, you probably remember聽Carmageddon聽-- not the聽, not the pet name that some gave to the 2008/2009聽聽industry bailout, but聽, one of Los Angeles' busiest highways. Now, it's happening again, and once again, residents are concerned about its impact on their quality of life.
In July of last year, officials closed a section of the 405 for three days in order to demolish the south side of Mulholland Bridge, a messy but necessary step in a聽$1 billion highway improvement project. California officials urged residents who had to drive to stay as far away from the 405 as possible, warning of monumental traffic jams. Citizens panicked, the media predicted complete chaos, and in the end...well, in the end, it wasn't a big deal at all.
In fact, traffic over the Carmageddon weekend was pretty light, and the number of people聽. In fact, Carmageddon was such a non-event that some people began asking聽.听
LA being LA, residents quickly resumed their auto-centric habits as soon as Carmageddon wrapped up (17 hours ahead of schedule, thank you very much). But they're going to get the chance to break the 405 habit once more this weekend.
From 7pm today until 5am Monday, the same ten-mile stretch of the 405 will be shut down as聽聽teams -- you guessed it -- demolish the聽north聽side of the Mulholland Bridge so that it can be rebuilt wider and more seismically sound.
City officials are hoping that Carmageddon II -- which we affectionately dubbed "Carmageddon 2: Revenge of the Fallen: This Time, It's聽聽Boogaloo (featuring Patty Smyth)"聽-- will go as smoothly as the first one. However, some who live near the soon-to-be-closed interstate have a new concern:聽traffic jams overhead.
聽there was one under-reported hitch in last year's Carmageddon:swarms of sightseers hovering in helicopters聽above the Westside neighborhood to catch a glimpse of the Mulholland Bridge's destruction. In fact, the situation was so bad that U.S.听Congressman Howard Berman (D-Valley Village) proposed the聽Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act, which would have allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to set rules governing flight paths for helicopter operators in LA.
Alas, Berman's bill seems to have stalled, so officials are now聽asking聽insisting that helicopter pilots be considerate and reasonable over the weekend. While news crews will undoubtedly be on hand for the event, Sherman Oaks board director Bob Anderson has demanded that well-heeled gawkers "stop having wine and cheese parties on helicopters to watch the bridge come down."
Live in LA? What are your plans for the weekend? Will you find alternative fun to pass the time like聽, or will you ignore Anderson's request and take to the skies?
