‘Carmageddon II’ and ‘The Traffic Strikes Back’ in LA
LOS ANGELES — “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 twoday closure, when hundreds of thousands of motorists dodged doomsday predictions by staying away until the busy, 10mile stretch of Interstate 405 reopened. It was one of the lightest freeway traffic weekends anyone in Los Angeles could remember.
Hopes are high that next weekend will have the same happy result, as businesses and residents prepare to avoid the roadway that must close again so work can be completed on a bridge.
At Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, just outside the Carmageddon Zone, officials plan to house as many as 300 doctors, nurses and other staff members in dorms at nearby hotels so nobody will have trouble getting to work.
Some patients, including women in the latter stages of complicated pregnancies, are being encouraged to check in before the freeway closes at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 29.
“Everybody, including myself, will be here to man the entire event, just to make sure everything goes safely for our patients and staff,” says Shannon O’Kelley, the hospital’s chief operations officer.
A group of art enthusiasts, meanwhile, formed “Artmageddon,” featuring activities at dozens of museums and art-house theaters and listing them on the website artmageddonla.com. People are encouraged to walk or bike.
The UCLA campus, with about 41,000 students, has emergency traffic diversion plans in place. In Santa Monica, just down the road, a new emergency operations center opened last month. Authorities say every major transit, law enforcement and emergency services agency in the area has been cooperating in making contingency plans.
In the meantime, just what should people do over the weekend when they will hopefully be too afraid to pull out of their driveways?