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Alexkid · 07-15-2011, 04:35 AM

LA readies for 'Carmageddon' weekend
DAISY NGUYEN
(The Associated Press)

07:35:00AM (DST) Friday,July 15,2011.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The City of Angels is on edge as the hours tick off until "Carmageddon" — the shutdown of a 10-mile stretch of one of the busiest highways in the United States, on one of the city's busiest summer weekends.

Will it bring traffic to a standstill like a scene out of a summer disaster movie? Or fail to come to pass, like other apocalypse predictions?

Everyone will find out soon enough as authorities prepare to close Interstate 405 for 53 hours beginning Friday night. Around the afternoon rush hour, the city will activate its emergency operation center before highway officers begin blocking access to on- and off-ramps. Then they'll close freeway lanes one by one until they reach a full shutdown by midnight.

Non-emergency street maintenance and repair projects will come to a halt. Police, firefighters, paramedics and traffic engineers will be on standby to respond to any crisis that may arise.

For weeks, officials have issued grim warnings about the closure in the same tones reserved for floods and threatening wildfires.

To prepare the public for the closure, they flashed signs on freeways as far away as San Francisco reminding drivers over and over: Stay off the 405 July 16-17. They recruited celebrities with large followings on Twitter, such as Ashton Kutcher and Kim Kardashian, to get the message out.

Facebook agreed to direct some 6.6 million driving-age people in the greater Los Angeles area to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Facebook page detailing the latest traffic conditions this weekend.

Transportation experts said the publicity campaign seems to be working.

They now predict that while there will likely be some backups on other freeways and on surface streets near the 405, the weekend shouldn't end in massive gridlock.

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* This will leave a few skid marks on Cali folks. *

07-15-2011, 04:35 AM	#1
Alexkid Your World & Experience Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Eastern Time Zone Posts: 6,877 Rep Power: 10	'Carmageddon' weekend LA readies for 'Carmageddon' weekend DAISY NGUYEN (The Associated Press) 07:35:00AM (DST) Friday,July 15,2011. LOS ANGELES (AP) — The City of Angels is on edge as the hours tick off until "Carmageddon" — the shutdown of a 10-mile stretch of one of the busiest highways in the United States, on one of the city's busiest summer weekends. Will it bring traffic to a standstill like a scene out of a summer disaster movie? Or fail to come to pass, like other apocalypse predictions? Everyone will find out soon enough as authorities prepare to close Interstate 405 for 53 hours beginning Friday night. Around the afternoon rush hour, the city will activate its emergency operation center before highway officers begin blocking access to on- and off-ramps. Then they'll close freeway lanes one by one until they reach a full shutdown by midnight. Non-emergency street maintenance and repair projects will come to a halt. Police, firefighters, paramedics and traffic engineers will be on standby to respond to any crisis that may arise. For weeks, officials have issued grim warnings about the closure in the same tones reserved for floods and threatening wildfires. To prepare the public for the closure, they flashed signs on freeways as far away as San Francisco reminding drivers over and over: Stay off the 405 July 16-17. They recruited celebrities with large followings on Twitter, such as Ashton Kutcher and Kim Kardashian, to get the message out. Facebook agreed to direct some 6.6 million driving-age people in the greater Los Angeles area to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Facebook page detailing the latest traffic conditions this weekend. Transportation experts said the publicity campaign seems to be working. They now predict that while there will likely be some backups on other freeways and on surface streets near the 405, the weekend shouldn't end in massive gridlock. ------------------------------------------------------------------ * This will leave a few skid marks on Cali folks. * __________________ Yeah...Do That.

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U.S. News Thread About, 'Carmageddon' weekend