Steering clear of Mulholland Bridge

August 25, 2011

They were looking for a sign—and they’re getting one.

Five signs, to be exact: moveable electronic message boards that will warn of congestion ahead on the Mulholland Bridge.

As classes get underway next week at schools along the Mulholland corridor, residents and parents alike are bracing for some of the worst morning rush hour traffic in memory. Last year, eastbound traffic had a dedicated right turn lane on the bridge. This year it’s gone, and traffic has been reduced to a single lane in each direction.

That’s because even though Carmageddon has come and gone (at least the first part), the 405 Project is entering a busy new phase with construction on multiple fronts. The Mulholland Bridge—gateway to numerous schools, serving some 2,700 students in all—promises to be one of the more challenging locations as workers prepare to rebuild the south side of the bridge that was torn down in July.

To help deal with the anticipated tie-ups, schools in the area have added extra buses and are heavily promoting carpooling. And everybody involved is trying to relay this message to motorists: stay away unless you absolutely have to be in the area.

“Kind of like Carmageddon, we really need to get the word out prior to the event, rather than during the hysteria of being in it,” said Laurie Kelson, who represents the Encino Neighborhood Council on the project’s community advisory council.

“It is going to hit us very hard. We’ve been working for Metro for the past 18 months,” added Robert Woolley, who represents the Mulholland Educational Corridor Association on the 405 Project’s community advisory council. He said that schools in the area have long staggered their start and dismissal times, and are increasing the number of bus routes this year from 9 to 13. Some larger buses also are being used.

At Woolley’s institution, the Mirman School, a quarter of the students will be coming by bus this year—up from 10%-15% last year. Other schools in the corridor include Berkeley Hall, Curtis, Westland and the Stephen S. Wise Temple and Schools, along with the Bel Air Presbyterian Church preschool. American Jewish University also is located nearby.

Ron Macias, a Metro community relations officer, said the message signs have been placed at key intersections in Encino, Encino Hills and Sherman Oaks. The goal is to warn unsuspecting motorists well before they head into the construction zone—and to let longtime commuters know that their alternate routes through the area will likely be more headache than they’re worth.

Macias said traffic officers also will be on hand next week to keep traffic moving in the area. He said a proposal to create a shuttle for students coming from Encino is under consideration.

Next week also brings a nighttime closure of the southbound 405 and the Sunset Bridge as contractors pour new decking on that structure on Monday, August 29. Sepulveda Boulevard will be closed from Montana Avenue to Church Lane from 10 p.m. on Wednesday, August 31, until 6 a.m. the next day. Details are here.

More disruption can be expected in November, when long-running ramp closures go into effect so work can begin on flyover ramps at the intersection of Wilshire and the 405.

The 405 Project, which will add a 10-mile northbound carpool lane to the freeway along with other improvements, is set to wrap up in 2013.

“It’s just going to affect a lot of people’s lives for a long time,” Kelson said.

Posted 8/25/11

Could curiosity save the bobcat?

August 11, 2011


Many people call the picturesque Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood Hills home, but not all residents benefit from human development. Learn about one who doesn’t–the bobcat–from “urban carnivore” expert Laurel Klein at Temescal Gateway Park.

Each bobcat requires a fairly large “home range” to hunt and reproduce, according to Klein’s website. When human development encroaches, a cat’s habitat is altered, and it can find itself in the midst of a challenging urban environment.

“It’s pretty easy in Topanga,” says Klein, “but harder in places like Beverly Hills or Bel Air. There is a lot of habitat fragmentation. They have to cross busy roads like Mulholland or Beverly Glen.”

Bobcats, which can grow to 40 pounds or more, rarely threaten humans and will generally flee if approached, according to Los Angeles Animal Services. The main threat they pose is to small animals, or if they are sick, cornered, or protecting their young. Even then, local officials have not encountered many issues.

“Our experience with bobcats is that they are never a problem, unless you own a chicken farm or something,” said Ray Smith, deputy director of the L.A. County Weed Hazard and Pest Management Bureau. “Coyotes are much more of a risk around here.”

If you want to know more, just ask Klein, who has been researching bobcats and other carnivores of L.A. County since 2006. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology through a joint program from UCLA and the National Park Service. On Tuesday, she will present the results of her studies, lecture on protecting the cats, and show off some of her best pictures.

Her talk, “Get to Know the Locals: Bobcats,” is the latest installment of “Culture in the Canyon at the Chautauqua,” a free program sponsored by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and presented by the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority. The series takes place the third Thursday of each month.

The bobcat presentation is at 7:30 p.m. this Tuesday, August 16. It takes place in Woodland Hall at Temescal Gateway Park, just off the PCH in Pacific Palisades. Parking is free for the event.

If you can’t make it there but want to help local bobcats anyway, you can always donate to conservation efforts, or just follow this tip:

“Avoid using rat poisons,” says Klein. “There is a lot of rat poison used around homes. We know that bobcats and many other species have died from exposure to it.”

Posted 8/11/11

A really long goodbye to Wilshire ramps

August 4, 2011

Carmageddon, as the whole world knows by now, came to a happy, early close. Now it’s time to start thinking about the 405 Project’s next big closure: the Wilshire Boulevard ramps in Westwood.

Sometime this fall, two Wilshire on- and off-ramps to the 405 Freeway will be closed for 90 days. That work will be followed by a series of closures of the other Wilshire ramps, each expected to last from 14 to 90 days. (There are eight ramps in all, and they will be worked on two at a time.)

The end result should be sweet: modern, swooping flyover ramps that will make it easier to navigate the notoriously jammed intersection.

But getting to that point may be considerably less so, in the view of residents of neighborhoods around the construction.

“That’s going to be the next shoe to drop,” said Steve Resnick, president of the Westwood Homeowners Association. “The 405 closure, as it turned out, was just the opposite of what was expected. It was terrific. The feeling is that this could be much worse.”

The tentative schedule for the project says the ramps are set to close in October, but project officials say the work is actually likely to begin in November. The ramps that will be closing first are the westbound Wilshire on-ramp to the northbound 405 and the northbound 405 off-ramp to westbound Wilshire.

It’s all part of a massive, $1.034 billion project, set to finish in 2013, that will add a 10-mile northbound carpool lane to the 405 along with other improvements such as the flyover ramps at Wilshire.

There are also concerns at UCLA. The closures will have a “significant impact on traffic congestion and commute patterns in and around Westwood,” Renée A. Fortier, Executive Director, UCLA Events & Transportation, said in a statement. She said the university is working with project officials to minimize “cut-through” traffic on the campus, particularly around Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. It also plans to take steps to publicize the closures in advance and to encourage students and employees who live north of the Sepulveda Pass to to join existing rideshare programs.

Adding to the trepidation about the upcoming ramp closures is that utility relocation work will be taking place at the same time on Sepulveda Boulevard—the designated detour route.

“It is our goal to keep Sepulveda open with 2 lanes in each direction as much as possible,” said Kasey Shuda, acting community relations manager for the project.

Even so, people in the Westwood Hills neighborhood are bracing for congestion, said Debbie Nussbaum, who represents the area on the project’s community advisory committee.

“In our little neighborhood, we’re very concerned. When things get backed up, people start looking for shortcuts—even when there aren’t any,” she said. “The Mulholland Bridge went pretty smoothly, but at most that was going to be 53 hours. This is 90 days, 24/7. People can’t stay home for that length of time.”

Shuda said the project will bring in traffic control officers to help keep things moving along the detour route as the ramp closure gets underway. Officials also will be using changeable message signs to get the word out to motorists approaching the area and will keep a close eye on signal timing on affected streets. And they’re taking suggestions from the community. (The next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 18.)

For her part, Nussbaum would love to see a special park-and-ride lot designated during the closure, with free rides offered on buses headed into and out of the area. And she’s hoping that some of the public-spirited mindset that applied during Carmageddon will kick in among those who need to travel to Westwood each day.

“Even if they carpooled a couple of days a week, that would make a difference,” she said. “Unless people do something voluntarily, it’s going to be pretty gridlocked over here.”

Posted 8/4/11

A speedy recovery on the 405

July 16, 2011

I’ve just spent the better part of this afternoon at the demolition site of the Mulholland Drive bridge over the 405 Freeway. I’m pleased to report (and I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know) that the work is ahead of schedule. The contractor, Kiewitt Co., has been doing a superb job. Its crews moved in last night, shortly after the freeway was closed, and began the demolition of the southern half of the bridge. Before sunset late this afternoon, the flanks of that part of the historic span were almost gone.

The consensus is that the contractor will beat by a considerable amount of time the 5:00 a.m. Monday deadline for the freeway’s reopening. Things can still go wrong; this is a complicated and difficult job. But the pace is promising. We’ll know more tonight or tomorrow morning.

Thanks again to all Southern California motorists who stepped up in the last 24 hours to make this freeway closure a far different kind of event than many of us had  feared. Earlier today, as I viewed the region’s free-flowing traffic from a helicopter, I was awestruck by the clear evidence of the public’s vast cooperation. And for that little piece of “Carma-heaven” on our roads, we can all take pride.

Remember that we need to sustain this effort for just 24 to 36 more hours, until the job is done. Stay tuned to the news or to my website for the latest information on the progress of this project.

Posted 7/16/11

Could this be Carma-heaven?

July 16, 2011

Thank you, Los Angeles, for successfully taking on Carmageddon. You stepped up yesterday evening and this morning. Southern California motorists followed the advice of public officials and traffic experts and are staying out of their cars. That is the only reason why traffic in our region was at all-time lows for a Friday evening.

I was at the 405 and Mulholland Drive last night at midnight to witness the closing of the freeway and the beginning of the bridge removal project that has caused all of this fuss. It was an eerie feeling to see the cars thinning out on the freeway as the closing approached, but it was also heartening that this region came together in common cause to help manage what otherwise could have been a traffic nightmare.

As I told a reporter last night, most of us feel that if we don’t get in our car on a weekend and go somewhere, then somehow we’re being cheated. In fact, what L.A. is finding out this weekend is that there’s a lot to do and see within walking distance of our own homes.

We have 40 hours or less to go, and I urge all of you to stay the course. Stay home, patronize local stores and restaurants, and do everything you can to stay out of your cars until this weekend’s work is completed.  It worked last night, and it’s working this morning.  We need to sustain this for another day and a half, and then Carmageddon will be in our rear view mirror.

Posted 7/16/11

Our Carmageddon cheat sheet

July 13, 2011

After months of preparations and weeks of dire prognostications, the 53-hour closure of the 405 Freeway is finally upon us. Whether L.A. faces Carmageddon this weekend or witnesses a benign replay of the traffic-lite1984 Olympics, knowing a few basics will help you successfully navigate the shutdown.

Beyond adopting the official mantra of “plan ahead, stay home, avoid the area,” here’s a short list of things you really need to know.

What’s happening when

As part of the $1.034 billion project to add a 10-mile northbound carpool line and other improvements to the 405 Freeway, on-ramps to the 405 between the 10 and 101 will begin closing at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 15. Traffic lanes will start closing at 10 p.m. Friday, and the freeway is scheduled to shut down completely at midnight. It is scheduled to remain closed all of Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17. The closure, needed to demolish the south side of the Mulholland Bridge over the freeway, is scheduled to wrap up by 5 a.m. on Monday, July 18, with the freeway reopening to traffic at 6 a.m. The project website has more information.

What’s closed

The northbound 405 Freeway will be closed from the 10 to the 101. The southbound 405 will be closed from the 101 to Getty Center Drive. Sepulveda Boulevard is designated for local access only, and officials are strongly urging non-residents to stay away (although IDs will not be checked to verify residency).  Canyon roads are expected to be clogged and gridlock could seriously affect freeways across the region—not just those on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley—so don’t travel unless you really need to. (Here are some tips for making the best of it close to home.) And please note—The Getty and the Skirball Cultural Center are both closed all weekend.

Check out the detour maps

Getting around will likely be a challenge, no matter where you are in the region. If you must drive, here are the official detour maps.

Who to call in an emergency

As always, dial 911. Officials of the “unified command” overseeing public safety during the closure considered establishing a special number for nearby residents to call but decided that the capabilities of the 911 system (which can trace dropped calls and record all communications) made it the best way to go. For more on the emergency response plans, read this.

What to know before heading to LAX

This webpage provides valuable information for anyone who needs to get to or from the airport. Allow plenty of time, and plan ahead.

How to contact the project hotline

The 405 project hotline, (213) 922-3665, will be monitored all weekend. This is not the number to call in an emergency, or for driving directions, but is a good way to bring other matters to the attention of the project’s community relations staff. If you’d prefer to e-mail, contact information is on the project website.

Staying on top of traffic conditions

For real time traffic conditions, check out Go511.

Keeping up with developments on Twitter and Facebook

Get up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter. (Search for #405Official.) The project website is here and its Facebook page is here.

How to get a free ride on public transportation

Many Metro trains and buses will be free throughout the weekend, and extra service is planned. Read all about it here.

From the Valley to the beach—by bus

Just because the freeway’s closed doesn’t mean the beach is out of reach. Travelers from the San Fernando Valley and Topanga Canyon can ride the Topanga Canyon Summer Beach Bus to Topanga, Will Rogers and Santa Monica state beaches both days this weekend. The cost is 50 cents each way, with seniors and the disabled paying a quarter. The pickup and drop-off times and locations are here. The Topanga beach bus is adding special Sunday service this weekend to help offset the effects of the 405 Freeway closure. (Summer beach service from some other parts of the county is being suspended for the weekend; check the Department of Public Works website before making plans.)

What’s exactly happening out there anyway?

This detailed explanation of the demolition plans, posted on Metro’s blog The Source, gives a good sense of what will be going on while the freeway is closed. And in this live chat last month, officials explained why the Mulholland Bridge’s design—a steep single span with no center column—makes the full weekend closure necessary for safety reasons.

When do we get to do this again?

Mark your calendar: in about 11 months or so, demolition of the north side of the Mulholland Bridge is set to take place— which means another long freeway closure coming in 2012.

Posted 7/13/11

53 ways to survive without the 405

July 13, 2011

Editor’s note: These tips from the original Carmageddon could still be useful this time around. The dates have changed, of course; the 405 closure is Sept. 29-30.

In case you haven’t heard, official Los Angeles wants you to get out of town the weekend of July 15-18, or to make it a stay-close-to-home time as demolition of the Mulholland Bridge shuts down the 405 Freeway. For those of you planning to tough it out here in L.A., we asked some of our county colleagues to help us compile tips for turning 53 hours of Carmageddon fever into some good communal karma. Here’s what we came up with:

Hunkering down

 

1. Honor the demise of the Mulholland Bridge by holding a mini-film festival of movies from 1960, the year it was completed. Some classic options include “Psycho” and “Spartacus.” Or see how far you can get, screening your way through AFI’s list of  America’s 100 Greatest Movies.

2. Continue the mid-century theme by making a playlist that includes 1960 hits such as “It’s Now or Never” and “Only the Lonely.”

3. Adopt a pet from a local animal shelter, and spend the weekend introducing your newest family member to your home and neighborhood. Locate a nearby L.A. County shelter here; call ahead to find out whether they have animals ready for same-day adoption.

4. Dust off some old board games and hold a Clue, Scrabble or backgammon marathon. At least that little Monopoly car will still be able to zip around the board, even if the rest of Southern California is stuck in a weekend-long Sigalert.

5. Plan your next vacation(s).

6. While away a few hours perusing the Los Angeles Public Library’s digital collections of old movie posters, travel posters, fruit crate labels and photographs. (Just type in a keyword such as “Hollywood” and a year span of, say, 1959-1960, and start feasting your eyes on some amazing shots.)

7. Join Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne in his yearlong “Reading L.A.” project. The July titles include “The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory” and “Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir.”

8. Get an early jump on your holiday shopping without getting out of your pajamas by patronizing some of these L.A. County online stores.

9. Get organized, and do some good at the same time: Clean out your pantry and donate non-expired canned goods to a food bank. Go through closets for items to give to a charitable thrift shop. Gather up loose change and earmark the proceeds for a cause you care about.

10. Take this quiz and see if your kitchen could earn an “A” from county public health inspectors.

11. Make sure you have emergency kits in your car and at home. Check out the Department of Public Health’s emergency preparedness site for its list of 10 essential items. Update your family emergency preparedness plan and practice it. And while you’re at it, check out the county Fire Department’s fire prevention resources, too.

Building community

 

12. If you have a pool, invite your neighbors over for a swim and an outdoor movie.

13. Go door-to-door and collect neighbors’ phone numbers and email contacts for an emergency phone tree.

14. Organize a block party.

15. Buy a large canvas and set it on an easel in front of your house along with paints, brushes and a sign asking passersby to get artistic.

16. Enlist your neighbors in a community walking group.

17. Start a Neighborhood Watch group.

18. Drop by your local fire, police or sheriff’s station and say hello.

19. Take an interest in where your neighborhood lands in the county’s redistricting process by weighing in here. The Board of Supervisors is expected to adopt a redistricting plan by August, 2011.

20. Make a list of 10 people you haven’t spoken to in a long time and call them to say hello. Better yet, surprise each of them with a handwritten letter.

21. Check in on a sick or elderly neighbor and offer your services in the yard, kitchen or laundry room, or as an errand-runner for the afternoon. A ride to religious services might be appreciated, too.

22. Form a neighborhood group to ride in the new northbound 405 carpool lane that will stretch from the 10 to the 101 when the Sepulveda Pass project wraps up in 2013…and share the gain that comes after the pain.

Out and about

 

23. Be the first on your block to experience the Natural History Museum’s spectacular new Dinosaur Hall, which opens July 16. Public transportation options are probably best; find them here.

24. Frolic in a local park. Los Angeles County has more than 150 of them, so pack your Frisbee and a picnic and enjoy the summertime weather with your family. More information about park locations and amenities is here.

25. Get a library card. Or, if you already have one, make it a point to drop by over the weekend and learn about opportunities for volunteering or donating.

26. Get a group together for a Metrolink daytrip. San Juan Capistrano, anyone? Check out the station map here for other possible destinations.

27. Plug your address into www.walkscore.com and find out how walkable your neighborhood is. Then start hoofing it.

28. Patronize locally-owned businesses. (Many will show up, along with other amenities such as parks, on Walk Score, above.)

29. Take a hike. Trail systems in Los Angeles range from easy strolls to challenging hillsides.  Find one that’s close to you.

30. Hit the links at a county golf course. Skip the cart rental and enjoy the walk.

31. Stock up on healthy fruits and vegetables at your local farmers market.

32. Grab your camera and head out in search of your neighborhood’s most distinctive features, from lampposts and architecture to flowerbeds and wildlife. Share your photos on Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s website.

33. Whether your taste in entertainment runs more to “Shrek The Musical” at the Pantages or Sarah McLachlan at the Hollywood Bowl or “Les Misérables” at the Ahmanson, there’s a way to get there by public transportation. And this is just the weekend to give it a try.

Make it a green weekend

 

34. Tear out your lawn and replace it with native plants.

35. Plant a tree. Or outsource the work to TreePeople, in honor of someone you love.

36. Start a garden. The benefits—fresh air, exercise—will go well beyond the tasty vegetables and herbs you’ll harvest. Tips are here.

37. If you’ve already got a garden, host a garden party (fancy hats optional) and send everybody home with a cutting.

38. Organize or join a produce-sharing cooperative on your block…and start off by pooling backyard lemons and making a giant batch of lemonade for everyone to share.

39. Start a backyard compost pile. (Read up first on all the benefits here.)

40. Get in line for some green by signing up your house for Energy Upgrade California at www.lacountyenergyprogram.org

41. Calculate your home’s solar energy potential.

42. Grab your reusable shopping bags and flaunt them everywhere you shop in honor of the county’s new plastic bag ban.

43. If you live near the beach, or can get there on the bus, take to the sand and help clean it up. For a list of more organized clean-up activities, look here.

44. Find out how and where to get rid of used motor oil or old computers and other “e-waste.”

45. Install some eco- and design-friendly rainbarrels to store rainwater from your roof for future use. (More information starts on Page 27 of this county manual.)

Go car-free for a day—or forever

 

46. Ride the subway for free all weekend long. Update: There are no free rides for Carmageddon II.

47. Explore a wealth of summer destinations on public transportation.

48. While you’re riding, check out the art. Or really save energy and check out Metro’s art virtually.

49. Go out to eat without guzzling gas. The possibilities range from pastrami to rice porridge on Metro’s Dining Map.

50. Help plan and promote the next car-free CicLAvia.

51. Look up the bike trail that’s nearest to your house, and give it a try. Detailed path maps are here.

52. Get a pedestrian’s eye view of L.A. history by following one of these self-guided Angel’s Walk itineraries. Other downtown walks are here.

53. Practice riding your bike to work …and then when Monday rolls around, really do it. And congratulations, you made it through 53 hours without the 405 Freeway!

Posted 6/15/11

Start mapping your 405 getaway

July 8, 2011

The latest ramp closure and detour maps for the 53-hour shutdown of the 405 Freeway have been finalized and feature a Sepulveda Boulevard route through the closure zone that will be designated for locals only.

The four maps include a regional overview showing how the closure will affect freeways throughout Los Angeles County, up-close views of specific ramp closures (one for the northbound freeway and the other for the southbound) along with a detour map indicating recommended routes around the segment of the 405 that will be closed so workers can demolish the south side of the Mulholland Bridge over the freeway.

Notably, Sepulveda Boulevard between the 10 and 101 Freeways is marked as being closed to through traffic and will be designated as reserved for local access only, according to the draft map. However, Ron Macias, a community relations officer for the project, said there are no plans to check IDs to ensure that only residents are using the street. “We cannot prevent anyone from using Sepulveda, but it’s going to be gridlocked,” he said, noting that Metro is strongly encouraging motorists to stay far away from the area.

Ramps will begin closing around 7 p.m. on Friday, July 15. The entire freeway will be closed all of Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17. It is expected to be reopened by 5 a.m. on Monday, July 18.

Posted 6/2/11

Getting hitched—with a hitch

June 24, 2011

When Dalia Franco started planning her wedding more than a year ago, she decided to handle the nuptial logistics herself, from makeup to valet parking.  It never occurred to her that less than a month before the big day, the most crucial guy on her wedding preparations list wouldn’t be a deejay,  caterer or florist but LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk J. Albanese.

But there she was Thursday night, pleading for some help in making sure her beautiful occasion wouldn’t fall victim to some ugly timing.  The impediment to true love—or at least to getting 130 guests to a lovely mid-July garden wedding on time—is the impending closure of the 405 Freeway for an entire weekend in order to demolish the Mulholland Bridge. With ramps and lanes closing on Friday, July 15, and the entire freeway shutting down for all of Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17, Franco’s dream wedding—scheduled for that Sunday at a private residence in Bel Air—was giving her nightmares.

For most Angelenos, the prospect of a 53-hour freeway closure is aggravating, alarming or a good excuse to get out of town. For Franco and her fiancé, Moshe Shmuel, it’s personal—not to mention a direct challenge to the guests who will be coming from around the world to witness their vows.

So Franco, 25, who works for a music industry attorney, threw herself on the mercy of the “unified command” in charge of public safety and traffic planning for the big freeway closure.

“I am begging all of you for some assistance in getting my guests up Moraga Drive,” she told leaders of the command at a community meeting Thursday at the Skirball Center. “Can I get some confirmation that my guests can make it up within three hours?  I am honestly speechless, I don’t even know…”

Her plight drew gasps from the audience, and, it appears, at least a little sympathy from the powers that be. Deputy Chief Albanese said he understood that the wedding is “a really special day for you,” and said his staff would give her a hand in informing guests on ways to get to the 5 p.m. wedding. But even so, they’ll need to allow plenty of travel time, he said.

“Here’s the thing that you need to understand, and your guests need to understand,” Albanese said. “They need to leave early. So you need to communicate with them that they need to leave early. Before you leave tonight, we’re going to tell you the alternate routes for them to get up there. But they’re still going to need to leave early. Really early.”

Franco and Shmuel aren’t the only engaged couple to find their wedded bliss threatened by the freeway closure.  Another wedding set for that weekend at the Skirball had to be rescheduled  to take place a day earlier, on Friday, July 15.

Franco, who attended the meeting with her mother and fiancé, said she first learned of the upcoming freeway closure about six weeks ago.

“My mom said it to me over dinner. ‘I’m going to tell you something. Don’t freak out.’ We all sat at dinner and said we don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Franco and Shmuel, who live in Marina del Rey, plan to send out an e-mail blast to all the guests with detailed information about alternate routes to the wedding, which will have “sort of a romance under the stars” theme.  After the meeting, Shmuel said he was “a bit reassured” by officials’ response to their situation.

And at least they don’t have to worry about making it a memorable occasion, Franco said: “Let’s just say that this will be the wedding no one will ever forget.”

Posted 6/24/11

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