The 405 report

Latest news

Updated 5/17/11: Plan now for huge summer 405 closing

Updated 3/03/11: A sharp U-turn on Mulholland

Updated 12/08/10: Wilshire 405 flyover ramps coming

Updated 10/12/10: Skirball Bridge demo—and detours—begin

Updated 05/05/10: Demolition time on Sunset

Updated 3/11/10: Some Westside bus passengers will soon be taking the scenic route.
And Metro would like to apologize for that in advance.

Starting in mid-March, patrons of various Metro bus lines in the Sepulveda Pass and West Los Angeles could be facing delays and detours due to the 405 Sepulveda Pass Widening Project, which will add a 10-mile northbound carpool lane to the freeway.

Bus lines that travel on the freeway and through the construction area will be affected off and on until the project’s completion, now scheduled for 2013.

Lines slated to be affected are as follows:
• Line 2-302: Sunset Boulevard
• Lines 4 and 704: Santa Monica Boulevard
• Lines 20, 720 and 920: Wilshire Boulevard
• Line 761: Sepulveda Boulevard and 405

Updates also are being posted on Twitter. Metro’s hotline for the project can be reached at (213) 922-3665.

Updated 2/9/10: Work on the 405 carpool lane project has been called off for tonight due to the rain. Weather permitting, it will resume Wednesday evening. Full information can be found here Updates also are being posted on Twitter. Metro’s hotline for the project can be reached at (213) 922-3665.

Updated 1/27/10: After-hours work on the northbound 405 carpool project is expected to resume tonight, Jan. 27, with the full freeway closing from midnight to 5 a.m. between the Santa Monica Freeway and Santa Monica Boulevard. Work is to continue on Thursday and Friday nights, with full freeway closures from midnight to 5 a.m. in the segment that runs from Santa Monica Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard. All lanes should be reopened by 5 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 30. Full information on the closures, including detour maps, can be found here. Updates also are being posted on Twitter. Metro’s hotline for the project can be reached at (213) 922-3665.

Updated 1/22/10: If the rain ever stops, after-hours work to create a northbound carpool lane on the 405 will resume next week with at least three nights of full lane closures planned from midnight to 5 a.m. The work begins at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 25, with all lanes closing after midnight on the segment of the freeway that runs from the Santa Monica Freeway to Santa Monica Boulevard. The next two nights will be devoted to the segment between Santa Monica Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard, with full freeway closures again planned from midnight to 5 a.m. Workers need to delineate new temporary lanes and install concrete barriers so construction on the 10-mile carpool lane can begin in earnest. Once the temporary lanes are in place, and a construction zone is established, northbound drivers will have the usual five lanes available to them during the three-year project. Full information on the closures, including detour maps, can be found here. Updates also are being posted on Twitter. Metro’s hotline for the project can be reached at (213) 922-3665.

Updated 1/13/09: Because of rain, work on the Sepulveda Pass project to create a northbound carpool lane is now expected to begin on Thursday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. The first full freeway closure will take place in the early morning hours of Jan. 15, with all lanes scheduled to reopen by 6 a.m. The work will take place on the segment of the freeway between the Santa Monica Freeway (10) and Santa Monica Boulevard. Full information on the closures, including detour maps, can be found here. Updates also are being posted on Twitter. Metro’s hotline for the project can be reached at (213) 922-3665.

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Surviving the night work on the 405

The lanes on the northbound 405 are about to get skinnier.

And, as with any New Year’s reducing regimen, there will be some pain before the gain.

Starting at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, Jan. 12, night crews will begin grinding off existing lane markings and restriping them in a narrower configuration to make way for a construction zone on the freeway. It’s the kick-off to eight weeks of intensive nighttime work on the 405 Sepulveda Pass widening project—which will ultimately create a 10-mile northbound carpool lane on the 405 between the Santa Monica (10) and Ventura (101) freeways.

After the new lanes are delineated, workers beginning Feb. 8 will spend four weeks installing “k-rail”—concrete barriers to create a work zone for the project. The work will take place from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays through early March, although bad weather could delay things. The entire freeway will need to be closed at various times during the next eight weeks; those closures will take place only between midnight and 5 a.m. Work will proceed in segments, and maps of detours for affected areas are expected to be posted here later this week.

The goal is to keep the same number of lanes available during construction as there are now—a crucial consideration given the heavy usage of the freeway. When the project is finished in the spring of 2013, it will provide a connecting link in the freeway’s carpool lane system extending north from the Orange County line. In the course of the project, workers also will realign 27 on- and off-ramps; widen 13 overpasses and structures; build some 18 miles of retaining and sound walls, and remove and replace bridge overcrossings at the Skirball Center, Sunset Boulevard and Mulholland Drive.

To help ease the pain—and to provide the opportunity for affected residents to troubleshoot the project as it moves forward—monthly meetings are being held with representatives of homeowner groups.