CARMAGEDDON - July 15-17

[Quinnie]

Here is a news story on the upcoming closure of the 405 on July 15-17.

LAX preps travelers for "Carmageddon" weekend

If you are flying into LAX on these dates, please educate yourself as best you can so as to avoid your trip turning into a nightmare!

 

[cmwade77]

To give am idea of how bad it will be the Mayor of LA actually suggested going on vacation that weekend. It is what we are planning on doing. Traffic is going to be a mess and I don't want to be anywhere near here that weekend.

 

[JH87]

I guess since I live in a little town I don't understand the magnitude of this, but since it's only for one weekend, why can't people just say home and off the roads? That way people who HAVE to travel can do so without the giant mess?

 

[ORDisneyfans]

I posted on another thread but no responses yet. I am booked non refundable to fly out of LAX on Sunday 7/17. Our flight leaves at 11:30. I will be driving a rental car from DLH. Any hints or tips. I have driven around LA county quite a bit and am not usually worried, but I can't miss my flight. I was planning on leaving hotel by 8am. Any help from locals would be greatly appreciated. I will have a gps with me. Thank you in advance!

Might have to cancel my rental car and just take the shuttle!
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[SarafinaPink]

I guess since I live in a little town I don't understand the magnitude of this, but since it's only for one weekend, why can't people just say home and off the roads? That way people who HAVE to travel can do so without the giant mess?

There are around 13 million people in the LA metropolitan area, so even if just the people who need to be out, are out, there still are going to be a ton of people. Add to the fact that people will continue to do their weekend plans (AND summer), no matter what, means it will get pretty crazy.

Thankfully I will be out of town on business that weekend, but seriously, it's going to be crazy.

 

[cmwade77]

I posted on another thread but no responses yet. I am booked non refundable to fly out of LAX on Sunday 7/17. Our flight leaves at 11:30. I will be driving a rental car from DLH. Any hints or tips. I have driven around LA county quite a bit and am not usually worried, but I can't miss my flight. I was planning on leaving hotel by 8am. Any help from locals would be greatly appreciated. I will have a gps with me. Thank you in advance!

Might have to cancel my rental car and just take the shuttle!
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No one knows for sure, but a best guess is it COULD take 6+ hours for that trip. This is the busiest section of the busiest freeway in the entire country that is being shut down for the weekend. One option might be to call the airline and see if they have a shuttle service and book it, that way of you don't make it in time for your flight, they would still accommodate you.

 

[ORDisneyfans]

Thanks for the reply! Wow! I can't imagine even LA traffic to be that bad on a Sunday Morning! I am flying el cheapo Allegiant Air! No shuttles, no guarentees! LOL! I have flown with them several times before, no problem! I would cancel all together but I am going for a convention. Again no refunds! I would be out about $1000with the airfare! I am going to call the shuttle companies in the am. I can rent a car at downtown disney (Alamo) super cheap for the few days I really want one and then take a shuttle or the DL express to the airport. I have always just rented at LAX, I hate to be on others time schedule! What to do....I will be traveling with my two DD's one 14 and one 8 1/2!

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

I seriously think this is the most overblown thing ever, and I was born and raised in SoCal. 6+ hours? Please. You could take surface streets the whole way. The 405 construction is far North of LAX and completely in the opposite direction of Orange County. The DLR doesn't even have an direct access to the 405, let alone feeding people onto it to get stuck. It helps to take a look at a map and see where the construction is and where DLR is. The problem is for people north of LAX and north of LA getting down to LAX and getting downtown, not for people in OC getting to LAX to begin with. This stretch of freeway is busy because above the 101 is the "Valley" and most people who live in the valley work in downtown LA. That has nothing to do with Orange County or DLR. Add an extra hour if it makes you feel better, but don't freak out.

I mapped it out for you.

 

[ORDisneyfans]

Thank you for the map, it does put it in perspective. I am not usually one to get overly excited about such things. I will be traveling alone with my girls and want be cautious. Myself, I wouldn't give it a second thought! In research, I was surprised how inexpensive a car rental was through Alamo in downtown Disney was!

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

Thank you for the map, it does put it in perspective. I am not usually one to get overly excited about such things. I will be traveling alone with my girls and want be cautious. Myself, I wouldn't give it a second thought! In research, I was surprised how inexpensive a car rental was through Alamo in downtown Disney was!

I know what you mean--my family was on the East coast last week and missed our flight home, and it was completely different traveling with DS. Before kids I would have sat in the airport waiting for any old flight on standby, but it got significantly more stressful with trying to get all three of us (DH, DS, and me) home on the same flight together at a reasonable time. Somehow you're much less flexible with kids! The car rental market around here is absolutely saturated, so it's amazing how cheap you can get a car. With the volume of cars going basically back and forth from DLR to LAX, it's a lot more reasonable than you might think it would be. I hope you and your girls have a great vacation!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

If driving yourself, I would avoid the 105 between the 405 and the 110. While the west bound section is not a recommended detour (as the eastbound portion of this freeway is), it is possible some will use it as an alternative to the 10 (which is the recommended detour for the traffic that woudl have been on the closed portion ofthe 405). You may be better off heading a little farther south and then driving north on the 405 to LAX. -- Suzanne

 

[helenb]

To give am idea of how bad it will be the Mayor of LA actually suggested going on vacation that weekend.

I AM going on vacation that weekend! To Disneyland! Sigh...

I am coming from the SF Bay Area, so I'll be on 5 on Saturday, July 16. I have potential detours mapped out going through Pasadena. I'm planning on checking the traffic as we're going through the grapevine and seeing which route looks best. If they all look bad, I'll take the Pasadena route since there's a carpool lane most of the way.

Hoping that's good enough...

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

If driving yourself, I would avoid the 105 between the 405 and the 110. While the west bound section is not a recommended detour (as the eastbound portion of this freeway is), it is possible some will use it as an alternative to the 10 (which is the recommended detour for the traffic that woudl have been on the closed portion ofthe 405). You may be better off heading a little farther south and then driving north on the 405 to LAX. -- Suzanne

Avoiding the 105 is probably not a bad idea. I'd recommend skipping the 405 entirely. If I had to get out there, I'd go straight West on the 91 until it ended and turned into Artesia, stay on Artesia until you hit Sepulveda, then North on Sepulveda, which will take you directly into the airport.

I AM going on vacation that weekend! To Disneyland! Sigh...

I am coming from the SF Bay Area, so I'll be on 5 on Saturday, July 16. I have potential detours mapped out going through Pasadena. I'm planning on checking the traffic as we're going through the grapevine and seeing which route looks best. If they all look bad, I'll take the Pasadena route since there's a carpool lane most of the way.

Hoping that's good enough...

If you mean the 210, that's probably the best workaround

 

[cyclenut]

Avoiding the 105 is probably not a bad idea. I'd recommend skipping the 405 entirely. If I had to get out there, I'd go straight West on the 91 until it ended and turned into Artesia, stay on Artesia until you hit Sepulveda, then North on Sepulveda, which will take you directly into the airport.



If you mean the 210, that's probably the best workaround

I suggested to someone else on another thread that they might want to take the 105. Your alternate is OK too, but I just don't see the 105 WEST as being that much of a problem.

It's all pretty much a guess though as this has never occured before.

 

[cyclenut]

I seriously think this is the most overblown thing ever, and I was born and raised in SoCal. 6+ hours? Please. You could take surface streets the whole way. The 405 construction is far North of LAX and completely in the opposite direction of Orange County. The DLR doesn't even have an direct access to the 405, let alone feeding people onto it to get stuck. It helps to take a look at a map and see where the construction is and where DLR is. The problem is for people north of LAX and north of LA getting down to LAX and getting downtown, not for people in OC getting to LAX to begin with. This stretch of freeway is busy because above the 101 is the "Valley" and most people who live in the valley work in downtown LA. That has nothing to do with Orange County or DLR. Add an extra hour if it makes you feel better, but don't freak out.

I mapped it out for you.

Yes, the closure is far north of the 405, but the whole freeway will be closed for more than two days!

Two things could happen.

1) Everyone who knows will avoid it completely and it will be free and clear for everyone else.
2) The alternate freeway becomes jammed at the alternate routes and the backup continues south all the way past LAX.

Nobody knows for sure which will occur or even which is more likely. I'm staying away.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

The last time I recall similar warnings about staying off the freeways was during the 1984 Olympics. The warnings worked well, as the traffic was actually lighter than normal and so was attendance at DL.

Today, unfortunately, it may be that with traffic cams and internet access, even if traffic starts out to better than the worse case scenarios, enough people will find that out and decide to head out on the road, thus making the worse case scenario come true!

I don't envy those of you who will be there that weekend. Of course, I live in an area where the freeway can be shut down for miles if there is a good act at the Fair! -- Suzanne

 

[kikiq]

I seriously think this is the most overblown thing ever, and I was born and raised in SoCal. 6+ hours? Please. You could take surface streets the whole way. The 405 construction is far North of LAX and completely in the opposite direction of Orange County. The DLR doesn't even have an direct access to the 405, let alone feeding people onto it to get stuck. It helps to take a look at a map and see where the construction is and where DLR is. The problem is for people north of LAX and north of LA getting down to LAX and getting downtown, not for people in OC getting to LAX to begin with. This stretch of freeway is busy because above the 101 is the "Valley" and most people who live in the valley work in downtown LA. That has nothing to do with Orange County or DLR. Add an extra hour if it makes you feel better, but don't freak out.

Yes what she said. You wrote exactly what I've been thinking since last night. It's almost spooky that I was going to write the very same words this morning but had to leave for an appointment.

My only concern would be all the people who are late trying to get through TSA at LAX. But that's whole 'nother issue.

 

[kikiq]

I don't envy those of you who will be there that weekend. Of course, I live in an area where the freeway can be shut down for miles if there is a good act at the Fair! -- Suzanne

My DD is going to be back at Cal Poly SLO to turn in some paperwork and have one last meeting with her advisor that week. I told her she has to come home to the OC by Thursday morning or better yet, Wednesday.

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

I suggested to someone else on another thread that they might want to take the 105. Your alternate is OK too, but I just don't see the 105 WEST as being that much of a problem.

It's all pretty much a guess though as this has never occured before.

I think the 105 West probably won't be a problem. My concern with that route would be the North/South access on the 605, that it might be backed up on the 605 getting from DLR to the 105. But in all honesty, either route would likely be just fine, IMO. If someone's got a smart phone or internet access and can hit Google maps with traffic mapping, it should be easy to make a good decision on the day itself.

Yes, it is just like the Olympics, where traffic was not only lighter than expected, but lighter than it was normally throughout those days.

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

Yes, the closure is far north of the 405, but the whole freeway will be closed for more than two days!

Two things could happen.

1) Everyone who knows will avoid it completely and it will be free and clear for everyone else.
2) The alternate freeway becomes jammed at the alternate routes and the backup continues south all the way past LAX.

Nobody knows for sure which will occur or even which is more likely. I'm staying away.

True, that stretch of the freeway will be closed for the weekend, but I think when trying to predict the traffic patterns it's important also to look at where people are usually going and why. The blocked access is North/South, not East/West. Getting from DLR to LAX is a matter of East/West with really quite a small jog to the North. To be clear, I would avoid the 405. I try to avoid the 405 on a normal day too. But there are two easy ways to get straight to LAX--the 91 route I suggested and the 105 route Cyclenut suggested, neither of which would involve the 405. The people who are going to have problems are the ones traveling North and South.

I really think that anyone local who doesn't absolutely have to travel that route, and few people necessarily do on a weekend, will stay home just like you will be. It's gotten enough coverage here that you won't have people like "hey, I'm going to go to Magic Mountain for the day and take the 405!"

Who knows. I just wouldn't be overly worried about it from DLR to LAX.