Temporary lane closures on the 405 Freeway this weekend are expected to cause traffic delays for Los Angeles drivers, including UCLA commuters.
From 10 p.m. today to 5 a.m. Monday the northbound 405 Freeway will reduce from five to two lanes between Montana Avenue and Getty Center Drive – a two and a half mile stretch. The two exits are relatively close to the UCLA campus.
The 405 stretch from Montana Avenue and Getty Center Drive will be completely closed from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday, 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. Sunday and 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday. The southbound 405 lanes will remain open.
On-ramps within the two- and-a-half mile stretch will also be closed during the 55-hour shutdown this weekend. Motorists have the option to continue on the two lanes or take Sepulveda Boulevard to pass through the area on surface streets.
The closures may increase commuting time for those headed to or from campus this weekend. But UCLA Transportation officials do not anticipate a serious impact on Westwood traffic.
“We’re not expecting a tremendous amount of congestion,” said Matthew Hissom, senior transportation planner for UCLA.
The closures will allow Metro to repave portions of the streets and repaint lines on the freeway all at once, said Dave Sotero, a Metro spokesman.
The construction is part of the Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, which will eventually improve supporting infrastructure on ramps and bridges on the southbound 405 while at the same time widening lanes on the northbound 405 Freeway, according to a Metro statement. Metro officials recently announced that the project will be delayed a year and is now forecasted to be finished in mid-2014.
The 405 construction project will be extended one more year because of a complicated tangle of utilities found beneath Sepulveda Boulevard, Sotero said.
Sotero said utility relocation is the most challenging part of the project because workers will have to move around gas pipes, oil lines and water lines among other utility-related pipes in the area between Montana Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, near UCLA.
Weston Stout, a fourth-year economics student, is planning to take the 405 Freeway to his home in Woodland Hills this weekend. He said he plans to take the freeway, despite the construction.
“It’s a huge inconvenience,” Stout said. “I don’t like it, but (workers) have to do their job.”
Those attending the UCLA vs. Arizona basketball game Saturday evening may also experience increased traffic in the area. Attendees are not expected to arrive at the same time but are expected to leave at the same time, which may cause traffic after the game, Hissom said. Traffic police will be present to direct people on the streets in order to relieve the congestion, he added.