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I-405: Countdown to the Closure Media Center


Welcome to the I-405: Countdown to the Closure newsroom, a compilation of information on the 53-hour closure of the I-405 on the weekend of July 16 and 17. Here you can access news releases, grab the video code on YouTube, download hi-res photos and link to online information.

 Plan Ahead, Avoid The Area, Or Stay Home. That's the message public safety officials are sending to the public in anticipation of a planned 10-mile, 53-hour closure of the I-405 freeway between the U.S. 101 and I-10 on the weekend of July 16-17, 2011, for planned demolition work on the Mulholland Bridge, part of a major I-405 improvement project.

Complete I-405 Closure Coverage

Link to Us: metro.net/I-405  twitter.com/I_405  facebook.com/405project

 

Find Out More
Fact Sheet
Detours
Access to LAX July 16-17
'No Stopping Anytime' streets
LADOT traffic volume counts
News Release: I-405 Closure
Link to Us: Webmasters Get the Clock and Banners

  

Metro's "Live Chat" at metro.net

(June 29, 2011) Metro executives K.N. Murthy and Doug Failing went online to answer some 60 questions from the public on a range of topics related to the I-405 closure. The entire chat transcript is online here.

Featured Musings

Getting Hitched - With a hitch Dalia Franco and Moshe Shmuel are getting married July 17. Give them a gift—stay home. The upcoming closure of the 405 gives new meaning to the term wedding jitters. Read this true report in the June 30 edition of L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslovsky's Weekly Web Flash.

Opinion: the 405 closure as a case for multi-modal transportation in L.A. By now it should be no secret that a massive chunk of the 405 freeway will be closing the weekend of July 15 – the big countdown clock on our sidebar kind of gives it away. -- June 17. 2011, in The Source at metro.net by Fred Camino

How the Original Mulholland Drive bridge was constructed -- On Monday, April 4, 1960, the same day the 1959 Academy Awards were held at RKO’s Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, Peter Kiewit Sons Co. completed a bridge across the Sepulveda Pass. Ben Hur, still considered a landmark film, won the Best Picture award that year. The new Mulholland Drive Bridge received fewer headlines. After all, the bridge overlooked an undeveloped canyon. No freeway ran beneath it. No rapid route between West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley existed.-- Jan. 11, 2011, in The Source at metro.net by Ned Racine

Moving the spaghetti of utilities under Sepulveda Boulevard -- What are the utilities under the 405 and the Sepulveda Pass? Some of those utilities run along and through the three bridges to be replaced—Sunset, Skirball and Mulholland—complicating their demolition and reconstruction. -- Oct. 8, 2011, from The Source at metro.net by Ned Racine

News Releases

 

Mulholland Bridge demolition work will be a meticulous, painstaking process, not a Vegas-style implosion
Los Angeles, Calif. (July 12, 2011) Contractors for the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project are planning a precise, carefully orchestrated ballet of workers and machinery to demolish half of the Mulholland Bridge the weekend of July 16-17, not a Vegas-style demolition.

Metro, Metrolink Trains, Amtrak, Beach Bus offer special transit service to help mitigate congestion during the I-405 closure weekend
Los Angeles, Calif. (July 12, 2011) Special service includes extra buses on major Westside, San Fernando Valley streets; free fare on Red, Purple, Orange and selected bus lines; added Metrolink trains; $3 one-way fares on Amtrak: Downtown LA to Burbank Airport.

L.A. Metro Makes 26 Additional Bus Lines Free for I-405 Closure July 16-17
Los Angeles, Calif. (July 1, 2011): In addition to providing free rides on the Metro Orange, Red and Purple Lines, The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) today announced that it will make 26 additional Metro Bus Lines free the weekend of July 16-17 when the I-405 will be closed between the I-10 and U.S. 101 for Mulholland Bridge demolition work.

Metro, Metrolink Add New Transit Services for I-405 Closure July 16-17
Los Angeles, Calif. (June 23, 2011): In efforts to further encourage the public to utilize transit as much as possible instead of driving during the planned I-405 closure weekend July 16-17, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and Metrolink have both bolstered their planned transit services for the closure weekend.

Have Questions About I-405 Construction or July 16-17 Closure for Mulholland Bridge Demolition? Ask the Experts During Metro's Live Internet Chat
Los Angeles, Calif. (June 20, 2011): As L.A. prepares for the 53-hour closure of the I-405 freeway between the I-10 and U.S. 101 the weekend of July 16-17, the public is being encouraged to plan ahead, avoid the area or stay home. What are the best ways to avoid or minimize the impacts of the closure? Tune in online to Metro's "Live Chat" on June 29 form noon to 1 p.m. at metro.net.

Changeable Message Signs on Freeways Announce I-405 Extended July Closure
Los Angeles, Calif. (June 13, 2011):  Sixty-four Changeable Message Signs (CMS) located on most Los Angeles County freeways began displaying information about the upcoming closure of the San Diego Freeway (I-405) over the weekend of July 16-17.

I-405 "Countdown to the Closure" Clock, Banner Ads Now Available at Metro.net
Los Angeles, Calif. (June 8, 2011): In efforts to help individuals, businesses, agencies and other organizations count down to the planned closure of the I-405 freeway over the Sepulveda Pass the weekend of July 16-17, 2011, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has created an official "Countdown to the Closure" online clock and banner ads that are freely available for public use at metro.net. Grab the code at metro.net/projects/I-405/link-us

Extended 53-Hour Closure of I-405 Freeway Between U.S. 101 and I-10 Planned in Mid-July for Mulholland Bridge Demolition Work
Los Angeles, Calif. (May 27, 2011) - Plan Ahead, Avoid The Area, Or Stay Home. That's the message public safety officials are sending to the public in anticipation of a planned 10-mile, 53-hour closure of the I-405 freeway between the U.S. 101 and I-10 on the weekend of July 16-17, 2011 for planned demolition work on the Mulholland Bridge, part of a major I-405 improvement project.

Keywords: I-405, "Sepulveda Pass" construction "405 freeway" 405 "freeway closure" mulholland
Last Revised: Thursday July 14, 2011

PSA: Advice from Erik Estrada

Share: To obtain the PSA in English, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANothNxBZrw. The Spanish version is available at at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkhPnzYTJG8

A PSA featuring actor Erik Estrada is available for public use in English and Spanish. The video PSA reminds the public to Plan Ahead, Avoid the Area or Stay Home during the closure weekend July 16-17, 2011. Estrada, who played "Poncharello, a California Highway Patrol officer in the popular 1970s-1980s TV show CHiP's, volunteered to do the PSA to Metro for free in recognition of the importance this freeway improvement project will have in adding carpool lane capacity to the I-405.

News Conference June 6 

VIDEO: Share from YouTube: youtu.be/ZJYH4AAp0fk

Plan Ahead, Avoid The Area, Or Stay Home. The Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Metro and Caltrans are informing the public in advance that if they do not have a critical need to be in or near the vicinity of the planned closure of the I-405 freeway between the U.S. 101 and I-10 during the weekend of July 16-17, 2011, they are being asked to avoid the area.

PSA: What's Happening

VIDEO: Share from You Tube youtu.be/tgHAWkUSdfg

Public Service Announcement: Demolition activities will take place over the July 16-17 weekend for 53 consecutive hours, resulting in the full freeway closure of the I-405 freeway in the Sepulveda Pass. The Mulholland Dr Bridge will also be closed that weekend. Some intermittent closures of the Mulholland Dr Bridge will occur during the preparation for bridge demolition and bridge reconstruction. Access will always be provided for emergency responders.


Mulholland Bridge will not implode!

Scenes from the demolition of Sunset Bridge July 2010 show how it's going to work.
Download b-roll: TRT 6:44 248 MB 640x478  or
Share this clip (TRT 2l22): youtu.be/-xU3NeylK3k 

Scenes from demolition of Sunset Bridge July 2010: No implosion necessary! No explosion either. Mulholland Bridge will come down bit by bit, chipped away by hoe rams and hauled away by loaders in the same steadfast manner as the demolition of Sunset Bridge conducted one year ago. This clip from b-roll of the demolition of Sunset Bridge on July 23, 2010, shows two hoe rams, resembling giant mechanical Tyrannosaurus rex, pounding away at the Sunset Bridge that spanned the I-405. Soil was placed below the bridge to catch falling pieces of concrete. Other scenes in the attached b-roll (TRT 6:44) show a hoe ram pulling down steel rebar hanging from the Sunset Bridge. Sparks from acetylene torches indicate where rebar is being cut. The metal will be recycled. Under a nest of steel rebar, loaders are scooping up fallen concrete. The contractor on the project is Kiewit Infrastructure Group.


These images were taken during the demolition of the Sunset Bridge on July 24, 2010. Click on images to download the hi-res version. Photo credit: Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA

Looking southeast, this views shows two water trucks on Sunset Bridge and the closure of the northbound lanes. The section of the bridge over the northbound I-405 was demolished first. Demolition of the span over southbound lanes began Sunday, July 25, 2010. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA

Sunset-1: Looking southeast, this views shows two water trucks on Sunset Bridge and the closure of the northbound lanes. The section of the bridge over the northbound I-405 was demolished first. Demolition of the span over southbound lanes began Sunday, July 25, 2010. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA. Click on image to download hi-res version.

Sunset 2 - Looking northeast from the southbound on-ramp, hoe rams tap away at the Sunset Bridge over the southbound San Diego Freeway. A sound blanket has been raised at the left of the photograph. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA

Sunset 2 - Looking northeast from the southbound on-ramp, hoe rams tap away at the Sunset Bridge over the southbound San Diego Freeway. A sound blanket has been raised at the left of the photograph. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA. Click on image to download hi-res version.

Sunset 3: Lit by powerful work lamps, a hoe ram knocks away rebar and concrete. The first phase of Sunset Bridge demolition ended with removing the center columns on Thursday, July 29. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA

Sunset 3 - Lit by powerful work lamps, a hoe ram knocks away rebar and concrete. The first phase of Sunset Bridge demolition ended with removing the center columns on Thursday, July 29. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA. Click on image to download hi-res version.

Sunset 4: Under a nest of steel rebar, a loader scoops up fallen concrete. Soil was spread under the bridge to protect the freeway surface from chunks of concrete loosened by the hoe rams. Reconstructing the south side of Sunset Bridge will take approximately 10 months. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA

Sunset 4 - Under a nest of steel rebar, a loader scoops up fallen concrete. Soil was spread under the bridge to protect the freeway surface from chunks of concrete loosened by the hoe rams. Reconstructing the south side of Sunset Bridge will take approximately 10 months. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA. Click on image to download hi-res version.

Sunset 7: A hoe ram pulls down steel rebar hanging from the Sunset Bridge. Sparks from acetylene torches indicate where rebar is being cut. The metal will be recycled. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA

Sunset 7 - A hoe ram pulls down steel rebar hanging from the Sunset Bridge. Sparks from acetylene torches indicate where rebar is being cut. The metal will be recycled. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA. Click on image to download hi-res version.

Sunset 9: Behind sound blankets, two hoe rams, resembling giant mechanical elephants, pound away at the span over the northbound I-405. Soil was placed below the bridge to catch falling pieces of concrete. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA

Sunset 9 - Behind sound blankets, two hoe rams, resembling giant mechanical elephants, pound away at the span over the northbound I-405. Soil was placed below the bridge to catch falling pieces of concrete. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA. Click on image to download hi-res version.

Sunset 11: Sunset Bl had to be closed in both directions before demolition could begin. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA

Sunset 11 - Sunset Bl had to be closed in both directions before demolition could begin. Photograph Courtesy of Metro. © 2010 LACMTA. Click on image to download hi-res version.



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