In most big cities, a detour is just a detour. Not in a world capital like Los Angeles.

When a 10-mile stretch of one of the nation’s busiest freeways shuts down next month for a full weekend at the height of the summer tourist season, it won’t be enough for the locals to know that the 405 Freeway will be temporarily closed just north of Los Angeles International Airport. Travelers from around the globe will also have to be made aware that the freeway will be cerrará. And fermée. And geschlossen, 被 闭, and 폐쇄.

To that end, officials from LAX, Metro, Caltrans and other local organizations have created one of the world’s biggest phone trees to spread the word about the 53-hour closure that will start before midnight on Friday, July 15, and continue through the pre-dawn hours of Monday, July 18. The shut down through the Sepulveda Pass has been ordered as a safety precaution during demolition of the Mulholland Bridge, part of a massive freeway-widening project. (Full details are here.)

Notices of the closure are going out in eight languages via TV, print, radio, web and social media, and are expected to be further translated as they ricochet around the planet. A separate flyer is being prepared for airlines to forward to individual ticket holders.

The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau is alerting some 180,000 travel professionals, ticket brokers, hotels, restaurants, travel writers and individual tourists about the shut down via targeted newsletters, says spokesman Michael McDowell. Another 600,000 or so of the bureau’s Facebook friends and Twitter followers will also get the memo.

And for those who still manage to land here without knowing about the closure, LAX is preparing to call in extra troops of volunteer passenger information assistants to beef up the 13 information booths at the airport.

“Our goal is to ensure that passengers coming in and out plan ahead,” says Nancy Castles, public relations director for LAX, which is expected to see more than 170,500 travelers per day during that weekend, including some 52,500 international tourists.

About 40% of these travelers will connect to other flights. And many of those remaining in the region will likely rely on cabbies, shuttle operators, local friends or relatives who by then will hopefully know to use detours, says Castles. But for others, she adds, delays and unfamiliarity with L.A. will be a serious source of frustration. 

“If we take the traffic analysts at their word, the 405 will have gridlock for 28 miles north of the 101 and 24 miles south of the 10 if they don’t get 70% of the cars off the freeway that would normally drive it on a summer weekend,” she says. “And if everyone is trying to go east or west on the Santa Monica Freeway, that’s going to back up beyond downtown L.A.”

Heading that off is a big job, Castles concedes, but not nearly as big as it was during the 1984 Olympics, when logistical bulletins had to be gotten out without the benefit of text messaging, social media and the Internet.

“Time is on our side and, this time, technology is on our side,” Castles says.

Julie Valentine, director of corporate services in the Los Angeles office of the travel agency Altour, says the firm is aware that “traffic is going to be hellish.” But Altour’s booking system, she says, allows the agency to notify clients directly and offer alternative booking times if their travel dates are flexible.

The Los Angeles visitors bureau, meanwhile, already has issued advisories to its offices in the U.K., Germany, Japan, Korea, Australia, China and Miami, which serves the Americas. The organization also has a special link on its website to the 405 closure.

Looking on the bright side, bureau spokesman McDowell says the closure actually is well-timed because “happily there are no major conventions on those days and we’re not aware of any significantly large tour groups. But we are getting the word out to the tour operators to avoid the 405.”

His group is recommending tour destinations during the closure that can be reached through Metro’s transit system, such as Downtown L.A., Hollywood and Universal Studios. The visitor’s bureau also is working with hotels throughout the region, particularly those popular with international travelers, including the Luxe Hotel Sunset Boulevard and the Hotel Angeleno, both of which are within the affected area of the 405.

Reginald Archambault, general manager at the Luxe, says reservation clerks are advising guests of the closure in advance. But so far, he says, those fair warnings haven’t put a dent in bookings. “This is just one segment of a long project,” he says, “so I don’t think people are completely surprised.”

L.A.’s first line of tourism ambassadors—airport cabbies and limo drivers—seem less sanguine about how all this will unfold.  Will Hebler, senior director of sales and marketing for Yellow Cab of Los Angeles, says that while fares out of LAX shouldn’t be as impacted as those in the areas around Brentwood and Mulholland, “it’s going to affect dispatchers because they’re going to have to find ways from Point A to Point C.”

Elton Silva, owner-operator of a small limo company based in Willowbrook, says that although much of his business is airport-based, he hopes to avoid the 405 altogether that weekend.

“It’s not going to be worth it,” he says. “We do a lot of fixed-rate business, and this means we’ll have to spend a bunch of hours and waste a lot of time and gas sitting in traffic. And it’s going to be hard to find a shortcut because everybody will be looking for the same thing.”

Officials at SuperShuttle, meanwhile, say they’re meeting this week to map alternative routes to popular destinations. (As a side note, they’re reassuring travelers that the more circuitous routes will not mean higher SuperShuttle fares.)

Of course, one option would be for travelers to choose airports other than LAX. Castles says local tourism officials won’t be suggesting that. But they are asking everyone to be prepared. 

“We want people to know they need to allot plenty of time once they get here,” says Castles. “Don’t plan to land at 1 p.m. on a Sunday and be on your cruise ship by three, even if that’s what you’re used to. If you’re coming in domestically and thinking, ‘Well, I only need 90 minutes or whatever to get to that wedding’, allow more time than you normally would. Don’t cut it close.”

Posted 6/2/11

The “Energy Upgrade California” campaign continues with an upcoming resource fair hosted by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and State Sen. Fran Pavley. It will take place in Calabasas on Saturday, June 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The fair will be held at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District headquarters, located at 4232 Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas. Booths, displays and presentations will offer information about county and local utility rebates and incentives, along with tips on how to improve your landscape and harness the energy of the sun. The objective: to save money while helping to save the planet.

Green industry experts will be on hand to offer advice and information on a range of products and strategies. This flyer offers additional details. And be sure to check out the County’s Energy Upgrade California website for the latest information on this new program.

Posted 6/2/11

Hip-hop dance and Dr. Seuss may seem as odd of a pair as green eggs and ham. And yet, Seuss’s lyrics are probably some of the first “rap” a lot of us read as children.

Culture Shock Los Angeles Dance Troupe draws inspiration from the classic Seuss tale “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” in its new show “Which-a-Way?,” which interprets a boy’s journey through a fantastical life using dance, spoken word, visual art and music. Sixty-five dancers ranging in age from 8 to 35 are cast in the presentation, which is meant to delight audiences of all ages while promoting literacy and urban art.

Culture Shock LA is a nonprofit group that aims to engage traditionally underserved populations in the arts while promoting the positive aspects of hip-hop culture. They seek to present urban dance forms with the same devotion given to more traditionally accepted art forms.

The show, supported in part by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, premieres Saturday, June 4 at the Ford Theatre, 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard East.  Tickets for the 8:30 p.m. show cost $25 for adults, $15 for students and $12 for children. They can be purchased online or by calling (323) 461-3673.

Posted 6/2/11

Move toward creative Nirvana on Saturday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in a free workshop called “Discover Zen Painting.” Students will craft the likeness of Daruma, the first Zen patriarch, using brushes, ink and paper in traditional Japanese style.

The class will be taught by Michael Hofmann, who spent 35 years as a painter in Kyoto and studied under Jikihara Gyokusei, Zen priest and master of calligraphy. The class coincides with LACMA’s exhibit The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin.

This Saturday, June 4 event is free with museum admission but requires a ticket, available the same day at the museum, to reserve one of the limited spaces in LACMA’s Pavilion for Japanese Art at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard. The one-hour workshop begins at 1 p.m.

Posted 6/2/11

Explore one of the most mysterious and enthralling of the performing arts at the Celebrate Puppetry Festival, taking place on Saturday, June 4 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Sunland/Tujunga’s McGroarty Arts Center.

This weekend’s free event offers entertainment and activities for the whole family. In addition to enjoying the performances by skilled puppeteers, learn how to make your own puppet, shop for unique gifts and merchandise and sample the variety of food and refreshments. And after sundown, there’ll be a very special performance under the stars titled “Ener-Chi: A Shadow Story of Survival,” created by Maria Bodmann.

The McGroarty Arts Center is located at 7570 McGroarty Terrace in Tujunga. For full information, visit Bali & Beyond or call (818) 352-5285. And don’t forget the Metro Trip Planner to help you get there.

Posted 6/2/11

One of L.A.’s premier cycling events, the Los Angeles River Ride—now in its 11^th year—takes place this weekend on Sunday, June 5.

Pre-registration is closed, but no problem—you can still sign up Sunday for one of six great rides ranging from a challenging “century” ride of 100 miles to a 15-mile “family” ride. There’s even a small practice loop within the park for youngsters aged 6 and under. An Eco Expo, raffle drawing, and pit stops along the way will offer plenty of food and entertainment to round out the day.

All rides start and finish in Griffith Park at the Autry National Center, located at the north end of the park just off the 134 freeway at 4700 Western Heritage Way, but you’ll probably need to park offsite. Check out the website for full information on the sliding scale of registration fees, staggered start times, the various route maps, clothing and safety equipment, and parking details.

Posted 6/2/11

In neighborhoods all around the 405 Freeway, people are scrambling to find answers to the biggest question of the summer: To get out of town, or to hunker down?

“I’m terrified. I have company coming from out of town. What are we going to do?” said Dr. Anne Kelly as she waited to have her hair done at a local salon this week.

“We’re going to be virtually prisoners,” said Kelly, a psychologist who’s lived in the Roscomare Valley neighborhood on the east side of the freeway for 40 years. “I understand that things have to be done, but boy oh boy.” 

When it was suggested that her professional services may be in demand, she joked: “I think you’re going to need a psychiatrist to dispense medication to deal with all the road rage.”

Yes, when you close one of the world’s busiest freeways for 53 straight hours, emotions run high—and people run scared. That goes double for folks in neighborhoods near the Mulholland Bridge, which is being demolished and rebuilt to make way for a 10-mile northbound carpool lane on the 405.

After a couple of hours of prep work that starts before midnight on Friday, July 15, the entire freeway will be closed all day Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17, reopening at 5 a.m. Monday, July 18. The closure will stretch north from the 10 Freeway all the way to the 101, and south from the 101 to Getty Center Drive. Even with the official mantra of “Plan Ahead, Avoid The Area, Or Stay Home,” there are concerns in the community that huge numbers of motorists will have to be diverted onto their streets, causing gridlock and placing locals under virtual house arrest.

Already, a spirit of resignation is taking hold in Roscomare Valley, on the west side of Bel-Air, as some neighbors get ready to take cocooning to a whole new level.

“As a joke, I said let’s get enough food in for the weekend and not go out. I think it’ll be awful getting out of town,” said Belinda Broughton, a violinist having lunch with her son, Oliver Britten, at the tiny Sugar Cube café.

The same goes for Paul Gamberg, who represents the Roscomare Valley as an alternate on the freeway project’s community advisory committee.

“We’re planning to be landlocked and to swim a lot. We’ll provision up. I don’t think we’ll have a hard time getting to Whole Foods, but we might,” said Gamberg, who oversees a Yahoo message group that serves as a sounding board among neighbors concerned about the project.

“I get emails all the time from people who are up in arms,” he said. “There’s been a lot of fury.”

A lot of it is apprehension about the “hellish” 53-hour freeway closure. But what really has him on edge is what happens afterward—when routes through the “desirable, paradisiacal neighborhood” become clogged and increased traffic worsens the condition of local roadways.

“We’re the first canyon east of the 405,” he said. “The reason our road is closed to through traffic is because it’s a narrow street and the city can ill afford to keep up with the potholes as it is.”

While some are getting ready to tough it out at home, others are making plans to hit the road.

“We’re getting out of here! We’re going to go camping,” said Joko Tamura, who’s also had to reschedule her son’s 11^th birthday party from July 16—the actual date—to July 9. (And Tamura’s not the only one to take a red pencil to the calendar; weddings, religious services and museum exhibitions in the area also have been shuttered, moved or postponed.)

Amid all the apprehension, there are those in the neighborhood who feel that the 53-hour closure will just be one more chapter in the long and difficult saga of the $1.034 billion I-405 Sepulveda Pass widening project.

“The street is just awful. Getting to the 405 used to be 5 minutes; now it’s much longer. And Sunset is just unbearable,” said Karen Klaustermeyer, who moved to the Roscomare area in 1971. “It’s just tearing up everything. The city of L.A. should look at the deterioration…I think they’ve forgotten about us.”

For those closest to the action, the best survival strategy for getting through the weekend-long freeway closure will be acceptance—and a positive attitude, said Robert Ringler, president of the Bel-Air Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council and a chair of the LAPD’s West Bureau Traffic Committee. “Screaming and yelling is fruitless,” he said. “Attitude—it’s so important. Attitude and planning.”

Posted 6/2/11

Allow me to be blunt: it’s going to be a mess out there.

As you may have heard, the 405 Freeway is being shut down through the Sepulveda Pass for 53 hours next month to accommodate demolition of the Mulholland Bridge, part of a massive freeway-widening project. The closure—an essential safety precaution—will begin before midnight on Friday, July 15^th, and continue into the pre-dawn hours of Monday, July 18^th.

Each weekend, roughly 500,000 vehicles move through this stretch of freeway, where detours are difficult to map and navigate because of the area’s mountainous geography. Beyond the obvious traffic implications, life for residents and businesses in the 10-mile impact zone will be challenging, at best. As the county supervisor for this district, my office has been working closely with the project team, and I assure you that we’re committed to doing everything we can to anticipate and ease the pain for all.

But the truth is that we must work together by planning now.

Obviously, the best way to steer clear of the aggravation zone and reduce congestion is to stay home that weekend or make plans in the neighborhood, like catching a movie at the local theater. If you’re supposed to work, try to change your schedule, take a couple vacation days or telecommute.

If you must hit the road, chart a course using the region’s many other freeways. You may end up driving more miles, but I guarantee you’ll get to your destination faster than by gambling on 405 detours that could leave you stuck for hours.

For those of you who think you can outsmart this potential mother of all traffic jams, my advice is simple: save your gas. After representing the San Fernando Valley and Westside for more than three decades as a Los Angeles city councilman and county supervisor, I know virtually every shortcut in those parts—and none will work because of the sheer volume of vehicles being taken off the freeway.

In the days and weeks ahead, you’ll be hearing lots more about the 405 closure from the folks at Metro, who are not only spearheading the construction project but launching a massive public outreach campaign. We don’t want anyone surprised by the enormity of the undertaking and its inevitable fallout. (For Metro’s latest information on the I-405 Sepulveda Pass widening project, click here.)

It’s been my experience that, armed with the facts, Angelenos can be very enterprising, especially when it comes to their roads. Just think back to 1994, after the Northridge Earthquake, when a portion of the Santa Monica Freeway collapsed and was closed for nearly three months. Yes, there was plenty of frustration but motorists adapted and coped. While this upcoming closure will be a pain, it’s only for a weekend. So if you roll with the realities, you’ll avoid a trunk load of aggravation.

For more, listen here to my KPCC interview with Larry Mantle on AirTalk. Also, visit the special “405 Report” section of my website and follow my freeway updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Posted 6/2/11

If you can’t wait for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s upcoming Tim Burton retrospective, just remember: Before there was “Edward Scissorhands” or “The Nightmare Before Christmas“, there was the French symbolist Odilon Redon.

Redon may not be as familiar as the director whose show opens May 29 at LACMA. But a special parallel exhibition there opening April 16 will confirm the suspicions of any art lover who ever saw a connection between the two. Entitled “Burton Selects,” the show was guest curated by Burton himself from the museum’s permanent collection and offers a glimpse of the inspiration behind his goth-whimsical point of view.

“It’s art that Tim Burton responds to visually,” says Britt Salvesen, the LACMA curator who is organizing both “Burton Selects” and Burton’s much larger main show, which drew record crowds when it opened last year at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Running through November 13 at LACMA’s Rifkind Gallery, the sidebar show will feature 38 prints and drawings picked by Burton from a long list of art already housed at LACMA. (Check out a gallery of Burton’s art, and some of his art selections, below.)

“It’s an eclectic range of things,” Salvesen says. “You can see motifs—skeletons, figures transforming from one thing into another—that transition into his own work.”

Francisco Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters will be there, Salvesen says, as will important pieces from the 1920s by German artists Otto Dix and George Grosz. Burton made special mention, she says, of Redon’s “The Eye”, “Like A Strange Balloon”, “Mounts Toward Infinity”, which Salvesen calls “a great image,” and the museum was glad to supply it. More than 25 artists are represented, she adds, ranging from a huge poster for the 1931 Fritz Lang thriller “M” to tiny, 4-inch-tall caricatures by the 17th century baroque printmaker Jacques Callot.

“He seemed to be drawn most to work from the late 19th and early 20th century, which wasn’t entirely surprising. I knew he had an affinity for German Expressionism, of which LACMA has one of the world’s best collections,” Salvesen says.

Although the Burton retrospective, which features more than 700 pieces of his own art, has already traveled to Melbourne and Toronto, “Burton Selects” is unique to LACMA, Salvesen added. “We’re the only venue that’s an encyclopedic museum, rather than just a museum of modern art or the moving image.”

The show also will help bridge the gap between the fine art more commonly associated with institutions like LACMA and the work of someone like Burton, whose professional training was as an animator at CalArts and who is perceived more as a purveyor of popular culture.  “This is really a way to tie him into the broader museum context,” Salvesen says.

Burton is among an increasing number of Hollywood figures whose art has recently crossed over into museums, which have benefitted from the chance to attract more mainstream art lovers, but faced questions about the potential for the artist’s celebrity to trump the importance of the art works.

Last year, the Museum of Contemporary Art featured a survey of Dennis Hopper’s photography and paintings curated by the painter-director Julian Schnabel, and the Max Ernst Museum in Germany presented 150 paintings, drawings and lithographs by the director David Lynch.

Burton’s May show will feature more than 700 individual works from Burton’s own archives and those of his collaborators, including paintings, photographs, film and video. Running through Halloween at LACMA’s new Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, it will include a giant topiary deer from the 1990 film “Edward Scissorhands”, a 21-foot-tall creature called “Balloon Boy” and a special room with a yet-to-be-announced installation by Burton.

Reviews of the New York show complained about the cramped quarters at MOMA. But LACMA is expected to easily accommodate its three sections—“Surviving Burbank,” “Beautifying Burbank” and “Beyond Burbank”—which were named for the community where Burton grew up.

LACMA also will present screenings of all Burton’s feature films in its Bing Theater during the run of the exhibition. And the director is expected to make an appearance, though it will be brief because Burton still has his day job: He’ll be shooting a new film version of “Dark Shadows“, the gothic soap from the 1970s.

Salvesen says the show “could be loosely compared to an exhibition we did at LACMA about the films of Salvador Dali—Dali did come to Hollywood for an intriguing period—and that project sort of gave us some experience with this kind of show. We’ll be looking at similar projects in the future. One in the works for 2013 is the avant-garde filmmaker Hans Richter. It’ll be a little bit different from Tim Burton, but it will bring film and experimentation into our galleries.”

Tickets to the main show go on sale May 2, but LACMA members get priority ticketing and admission, and can make reservations starting March 30. The museum also is offering new members two free tickets if they join today.

Here’s a gallery of Tim Burton’s art and some of his LACMA picks:

Posted 3/22/11