Friday, July 15, 2011

Carmageddon

Maybe you have heard. The west side of Los Angeles will be brought to its knees starting at 10PM tonight through Monday morning 6AM.

The 405 Freeway will be closed for a ten mile stretch from the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley south to the 10 Interchange. This is all part of the ongoing construction designed to widen the clogged roads. This two-day closure is needed so they can freely destroy the Mulholland overpass.

If you live elsewhere, do you care? Likely not. But, those of us residing on the west side of the city are approaching this as if it's an oncoming blizzard bearing down on the Northeast. Or the aftermath of a nuclear blast. People are planning on home projects. Stocking up supplies as if they will never see the inside of a supermarket ever again. Everybody, run to safety in the bunker.

Now, longtime Angelinos tell me that the media hype about the possibility of extensive traffic snarls is reminiscent of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Folks then were warned of a motoristic doomsday, which never really materialized. It is likely that, one more time, the bark may be worse than the bite.

Nevertheless, I am strategizing alternate routes to my dry cleaner and Ralph's Supermarket like it's June 5, 1944.

And there's always a good book. Meanwhile, even with all the drama, traffic will probably still be better than when President Obama shows up on one of his fundraising tours. One of his recent sojourns had me trapped in my garage for two hours.

The following video encapsulates the ensuing hysteria perfectly and it is loaded with wonderful references that only a Socal resident could enjoy.

As you will see and hear, even Adolf Hitler is anticipating the dreaded...Carmageddon.



Dinner last night:  Penne and meatballs.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brilliant.

"The freaking bus!"

Some LA writer spent time on this. Thank you, Anonymous.

Anonymous said...

in 1984 there was so much dread about the pending gridlock because of the Olympics that many people left town for the duration. The result was the most open driving ever! It was a pleasure driving to work.
15thavebud