Community Corner
Metro Closing Lanes on Wilshire for Up to One Year
Start planning to allow more time to get to your destination if you are traveling on Wilshire in Westwood.
Wilshire Boulevard traffic during rush hour has always been a nightmare and is about to get worse for commuters traveling in Westwood beginning Friday evening and lasting up to one year.
This upcoming change is due to the reconfiguration Metro will be making on Wilshire in order to widen the Wilshire Bridge and is part of the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project.
Starting at 10 p.m. Friday, April 8, for 12 hours, Metro has announced that Kiewit, the contractor for the freeway construction, will begin placing K-rail, re-striping the intersection at Wilshire and Sepulveda and installing temporary lighting and signals at Wilshire Blvd. and Sepulveda Blvd. During this installation the traffic lights at Wilshire and Sepulveda will be turned off and traffic control officers will direct traffic.
Find out what's happening in Westwood-Century Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Upon completion, Wilshire Blvd. will have one less center lane in each direction from Bonsall to Veteran. All turn lanes will remain open. There will be K-rail placed around the median of both westbound and eastbound Wilshire to create a work zone for the bridge widening. This new configuration will remain in place for one year.
Travelers on Saturday can expect two lane closures in each direction from Veteran to Bonsall from 10 pm on Friday until noon on Saturday. Sepulveda will be reduced to one lane in each direction from Constitution to Ohio.
Find out what's happening in Westwood-Century Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Those traveling to and from work beginning Monday, April 11 should allow extra travel time. The first day is likely to be the worst since many drivers will not be aware of this modification.
Anticipate several more changes in the upcoming months that will affect the traffic along Wilshire Blvd. during the freeway expansion. This will include ramp closures.
Looking at the bright side, this relatively short term headache, there will be the elimination of those extremely dangerous weaving all of us experience as we struggle to get on and off the I-405 at Wilshire. The new on-ramps and off-ramps at Wilshire will be smoother and safer due to the new fly-over loop type ramps.
For more information:
Website: www.metro.net/I405
Twitter: http://twitter.com/I_405
Facebook: www.facebook.com/405project
Nixle: nixle.com
Project Hotline: 213.922.3665
