This summer is already way too busy and moving far too fast, but its about to come to a screeching halt on Los Angeles’ 405 Freeway…
This is “Carmageddon” week in Los Angeles. This is the week the City of Angels chose to shut down the city’s busiest freeway to tear out an old bridge and put up sound-walls, and no one really knows what else. It doesn’t sound like a big deal but trust me, taking the 405 Freeway away from Angelinos for even a couple of days is going to bring millions of heat-stroked drivers to their knees for 70 miles in all directions—at least that’s what we’re being warned.
I don’t live in Los Angeles anymore but I was born and raised there. My family, friends and business associates are still there. It’s an amazing city with far more depth than its critics give it credit for, but man is it hell to drive around down there! Everything you’ve heard about LA traffic is true. The only place in the world where I thought it was worse was Manila-but that’s another story…
Two weeks ago my family and I drove to the Anaheim Angels Stadium near Disneyland to see a U2 concert. I loved the concert but I didn’t love the drive. We hit a thick patch of Friday afternoon traffic that took us nearly 5 hours to drive only 70 miles. We were in second gear, bumper-to-bumper hot, smoggy traffic most of the way. We were driving so slow I was able to read trash wrappers by the side of the road. The people around us became eerily familiar faces. If I wanted to, I could have rolled down my car window and held lengthy conversations with the other drivers—traffic was that bad and it wasn’t even Carmageddon!
As we rolled slowly across Los Angeles, I saw mile after mile of heavy equipment and materials assembled along the 405 waiting to snap into action. All I can say is, I hope the new bridge does these folks some good. There is no wiggle room on these crowded roads.
Since I don’t live in LA anymore why am I complaining? I’ll tell you. Two different sets of friends and family from out of state have chosen this week to fly into LAX and visit. One on July 15th the day before Carmageddon and one set of friends on July 17th right in the thick of the mess. They all need a ride from the LAX airport… They want to visit the Los Angeles cathedral and take the kids to Disneyland too. One group even wants to drive the 405 to San Diego, stopping to do fun things along the way. (I don’t think so, unless you think camping beside the freeway is fun…)
I had to break the bad news to everybody that we would be changing our plans and heading out of LA as quickly as possible by train…
Today is my anniversary. I wish I could celebrate quietly with my husband, but we have yet another set of friends coming to visit from Texas tonight… No private, romantic anniversary dinner for me. Oh well, there’s no rest for the wicked. It’s almost time to get in the car and start rolling slowly toward LAX.
XXOO Kat
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