Carmageddon

"Carmageddon" brought mostly good karma Saturday morning to passengers traveling to and from LAX, judging from my interviews with about a dozen who came from all corners of Southern California .  The feared area-wide gridlock from the weekend closure of 10 miles of the 405 Freeway north of one of the world's busiest airports didn't happen, they said. In fact, they all said traffic was better than usual. That's not to say some fearful fliers weren't inconvenienced.

Los Angeles escaped the dreaded "Carmageddon" gridlock that was expected to accompany the closure of the 405 Freeway last month, but residents and commuters high above the freeway on Mulholland Drive fear they are in for two years of motoring mayhem. With a handful of high-toned private schools preparing to resume classes this week, and the Mulholland Drive bridge half-demolished, traffic along the leafy hilltop will slow to a crawl, residents say. "You're putting thousands of students and cars onto one single road that's already overextended," said Nayssan Finer, president of the Bel-Air Knolls Property Owners Assn.

Killer bees never did swarm the Southwest, the Y2K bug was squashed, the world didn't end on May 21 and "Carmageddon" wasn't. Now that we've finished freaking out about the weekend closure of 10 miles of the 405 Freeway, can we do something about the fact that it's Carmageddon every single day in West Los Angeles? Last weekend demonstrated that Angelenos really can change their driving behavior if they're motivated to do so. It's not the first time they've done it. During the 1984 Olympics, when the pre-event hype about traffic nightmares was at least as intense as the media warnings about Carmageddon, commuter traffic across the city was a breeze.

Stars in our eyes Re "Space agency struggles to set new course," July 19 It is a sad coincidence that the return of our country's last manned spaceflight for the foreseeable future should occur one day after the 42nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The people of the world owe all those who were part of all the manned space programs a debt of gratitude for inspiring those who would look to the skies in awe and pride in our shared achievement as human beings.

Trapped in your neighborhood this weekend due to "Carmegeddon," or just afraid to venture out in an automobile? No worries -- consider using this weekend as an excuse to burn calories doing mind-numbing errands. That's right, you can actually get some exercise by walking or biking to the grocery store, the dry cleaners, the library and the barber. Just think of the activity you could get: A 30-minute brisk walk for a 150-pound person burns about 175 calories -- that's about a 1-ounce bag of regular potato chips.

Can't face "Carmageddon"? Consider taking a train trip out of town to Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo. If you act quickly, you may score discounts for the weekend too. The Carmageddon wildcard, of course, is that no one knows exactly what will happen to traffic Saturday when the 405 Freeway shuts northbound along a 10-mile section between Interstate 10 and the 101 Freeway, and southbound between the 101 and Getty Center Drive....

Carmageddon, as the partial shutdown of the 405 Freeway this weekend has been dubbed, is prompting Amtrak to offer half off train travel between Union Station in downtown Los Angele s and Bob Hope Airport (BUR) in Burbank to help airline passengers get to their flights on time. The ticket discount, which brings the fare down to $3 for adults and $1.50 for children ages 2 to 15, will apply to travel Friday through Sunday. The idea is to keep travelers from getting stuck on alternate freeways, such as the 110, 5, 134 or 101, on their way to the airport.

Are you ready for Carmageddon, the lockdown of a 10-mile stretch of the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles July 16 and 17? The lucky people who don't have to hit the roads will probably stay put, but undoubtedly some will get stuck -- as in trapped like a caged animal -- in horrible traffic. Not that Angelenos are strangers to traffic jams, but since this is allegedly going to produce gridlock to end all gridlock, we thought we'd offer a few tips on how to chillax and not blow a gasket during your blocks of idling.

The first drivers roared up the newly reopened 405 Freeway at high noon Sunday, honking horns, kicking up roostertails of demolition dust, arms stretched through open windows to wave at no one in particular. And so the reprieve from freeway traffic ended early, along with the planned weekend closure that had threatened to unleash "Carmageddon" if not for the public's cooperation. Contractors had padded the schedule to allow for unforeseen mishaps in tearing down half of the Mulholland Drive bridge before the Monday morning rush, risking enormous fines and public disdain under an international spotlight if they were late.

Hours before the demolition equipment took over the 405 Freeway, there was no sign of the " Carmageddon " that Angelenos have been dreading for weeks. With most people staying away to avoid the imminent shutdown, the few who remained got to enjoy what Twitter users called "eerily open" lanes and the "quickest Friday commute ever. " Earlier in the day, city and county officials huddled at the Emergency Operations Center in downtown Los Angeles had predicted that this weekend's freeway closure would go off without a hitch — as long as motorists stay off the road.

Many Angelenos stayed off the roads during "Carmageddon," but one Sherman Oaks couple and their college friend marked the 405 Freeway closure with a dinner party. On the empty freeway. Matt Corrigan, 29, his wife, Amanda, 28, and their friend Barry Neely, 31, decided last week that they would have a little fun on the 405 while it was shut down between the 10 and 101 freeways for a bridge demolition project. "We just tried to think of the most outlandish thing to do in the middle of the freeway, and we thought, 'Let's have a dinner party,' " Matt Corrigan said.

Killer bees never did swarm the Southwest, the Y2K bug was squashed, the world didn't end on May 21 and "Carmageddon" wasn't. Now that we've finished freaking out about the weekend closure of 10 miles of the 405 Freeway, can we do something about the fact that it's Carmageddon every single day in West Los Angeles? Last weekend demonstrated that Angelenos really can change their driving behavior if they're motivated to do so. It's not the first time they've done it. During the 1984 Olympics, when the pre-event hype about traffic nightmares was at least as intense as the media warnings about Carmageddon, commuter traffic across the city was a breeze.

We didn't just survive "Carmageddon" last weekend, we basked in it. Neighbors had dinner together. Angelenos strolled to their local coffee shops and biked around town. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky gushed that Los Angeles residents "have turned Carmageddon into Carmaheaven. " People waxed wistfully that we should do this every weekend. Well, no, we can't do it every weekend. Just as Carmageddon was a construction success because time was built into the schedule for things to go wrong (nothing did)

Texas' battle of the bulb Re "House acts against light bulb rules," July 16 Once again, the great state of Texas is stepping forward to preserve our nation's freedoms. Why should I be forced to buy an energy-efficient light bulb? After all, there is still plenty of oil in Texas, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. All Americans have the God-given right to consume as much energy as humanly possible. Of course, even Texas does have some concerns about energy efficiency. It leads the nation in executions; the state long ago adopted the lethal-injection method to replace electrocution.

Angel Sawle was one of the thousands of Southern Californians who heeded the "Carmageddon" warnings and curtailed her weekend routine, choosing to stay close to home in Los Feliz. Sawle was glad to do her part, but she doesn't see herself making this a permanent thing. "I didn't mind doing it to help out," Sawle said, though she enjoys exploring in her car on weekends too much to give it up. The success of Carmageddon has given way to a political and lifestyle question: If L.A. residents can cut their driving for one weekend, how can they be encouraged to drive less the rest of the time?

The first drivers roared up the newly reopened 405 Freeway at high noon Sunday, honking horns, kicking up roostertails of demolition dust, arms stretched through open windows to wave at no one in particular. And so the reprieve from freeway traffic ended early, along with the planned weekend closure that had threatened to unleash "Carmageddon" if not for the public's cooperation. Contractors had padded the schedule to allow for unforeseen mishaps in tearing down half of the Mulholland Drive bridge before the Monday morning rush, risking enormous fines and public disdain under an international spotlight if they were late.

The shutdown of the 405 is a story that can be told in numbers: 500,000 drivers, 53 hours, 10 miles and eight words. Plan ahead. Avoid the area, or stay home. As a slogan, it hardly has the stirring eloquence of Madison Avenue behind it. Dutiful, plain-wrapped and direct, it has become over the last two months the bureaucratic catch-phrase for the closure, and its formulation — and dissemination — captures the difficulty of delivering an effective message to a region intent upon its travels.

Angel Sawle was one of the thousands of Southern Californians who heeded the "Carmageddon" warnings and curtailed her weekend routine, choosing to stay close to home in Los Feliz. Sawle was glad to do her part, but she doesn't see herself making this a permanent thing. "I didn't mind doing it to help out," Sawle said, though she enjoys exploring in her car on weekends too much to give it up. The success of Carmageddon has given way to a political and lifestyle question: If L.A. residents can cut their driving for one weekend, how can they be encouraged to drive less the rest of the time?

For all the doomsday warnings about "Carmageddon," the first day largely came down to one question: Could a group of bicycle riders beat a plane across Los Angeles? Life without the 405 Freeway to connect the San Fernando Valley and Westside was remarkable only for what didn't happen. The canyons of the Hollywood Hills did not become giant parking lots. Hospitals did not go unstaffed. Stranded motorists did not abandon their cars and stagger down the freeways in search of food and water.

How Angelenos roll Re "Our way is the freeway," Opinion, July 11 Now that Gregory Rodriguez has romanticized the sense of "community" we all feel as we sit in traffic on the 405 breathing exhaust fumes — or rather, sitting with the windows rolled up glaring straight ahead — I am looking forward to his ode to some of the other pleasant things in life. Like, say, the olfactory delights of raw sewage or the wonderful camaraderie we have with our dentist during root canal surgery.