After Carmageddon, Mulholland Bridge Project Continues

With vacationers heading to Southern California for the last few weeks of summer and many kids about to head back to school, local transportation officials today urged motorists to avoid using the Mulholland Drive bridge over the San Diego (405) Freeway.

About 20,000 motorists cross the bridge on a typical school day, according to Metro spokesman Dave Sotero. The bridge is the only main access for parents east of the 405 to access six different schools just west of the bridge on Mulholland Drive.

Half of the bridge was demolished July 16-17, a weekend that came to be known as "Carmageddon'' thanks to the closure of the 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass to accommodate the bridge work. With the bridge offering only one lane of travel in each direction, officials with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and city Department of Transportation urged motorists to use alternate routes and reserve the bridge for local access only.

Congestion in the area could be aggravated by out-of-state visitors unfamiliar with the construction project, officials said. Metro will place warning signs on nearby streets used to access the area.

Traffic-control officers will be working at the intersection of Mulholland and Skirball Center drives beginning next Monday during the morning rush hours to help keep traffic moving.

City Council Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes neighborhoods immediately west of the 405, has been receiving about 10 phone calls or emails per week from constituents expressing concern about increased traffic around the bridge, spokesman Tony Arranaga said.

"We are having ongoing conversations with Metro and LADOT, because these Westside neighborhoods face gridlock on a daily basis, almost hourly,'' Arranaga said.

Sotero credited the Mulholland Education Corridor Association for increasing the use of rideshares and pushing for staggered school start times in the two years leading up to the bridge project. Directors at Berkeley Hall, Westland and Milken Community schools were not immediately available for comment.

The bridge project is part of a $1 billion effort to add a carpool lane on the freeway through the Sepulveda Pass and make other improvements. The overall project is expected to be completed in 2013.