Carmaggedon NOT!!!

Well, the big day has finally arrived. For over a month all we heard was stay home, shop in your own neighborhood, stay away from the 405...it will be a nightmare. For those of you who don't know what Carmaggedon is, it a 10-mile closure of the 405 freeway on the west side of Los Angeles (one of the busiest freeways in America. The reason for the shutdown...they have to tear down a bridge to make room for a carpool lane.

Now, you wouldn't think it's that big a deal to shut down a freeway for two days to do the demolition, but let me tell you...getting Angelinos out of their cars or away from an area they want to go is a really big deal. We love our cars and are a very mobile bunch.

Back to the story. We watched the news last night as fewer and fewer cars transversed the road that was closing at the stroke of midnight. I went to bed fully expecting to see a parking lot on the freeway below the closure...you see, I live about a mile south of the closure.

I have been telling all my friends that on Saturday morning I was going to walk up the bridge overlooking the freeway to take a picture of the parking lot. Well, here is the picture and you won't believe it...NO TRAFFIC!!!



They said it couldn't be done and it would be nothing like the 1984 Olympics when everyone left town, but it was. Here's the proof.

It was so easy to get around that my friend and I decided to drive the carmaggedon freeway (405 North to the 10 West.) It was the fastest 1 mile stretch of the 405 I have ever travelled.

I may never see this again in my lifetime but for a few moments I felt like I turned back the hands of time to a much less crowded Los Angeles.

Of course, we will have to see how Sunday goes. I think once people see the news and how light the traffic was they will venture out, so....carmaggedon weekend is not done just yet....

Stay tuned!