In LA Traffic, Design Purity Outmaneuvers Common Sense
In July 2011, Caltrans contractors demolished the southern half of the Mulholland Highway Bridge,
which spans the busy Interstate I-405 Freeway at Sepulveda Pass in Los
Angeles, California. The reasons for replacing only one-half of the
stately structure at a time are obscure. Suffice to say that local
homeowner groups held out for purity of design.
Rather than allowing the road to jog at either end of the bridge,
those groups forced Caltrans to build the same bridge twice, one-half
each time. As they say, “Only in Los Angeles…”
People
who drive in Los Angeles know that “The 405” is the only freeway route
through the Santa Monica Mountains within twelve miles. Connecting the
San Fernando Valley with West Los Angeles, the I-405 is an
ever-widening ribbon of concrete, and one of the busiest highways in
the world. In January 2012, I drove southbound past the construction
site to Marina del Rey. My return trip that afternoon took me northbound over the same route.
On that morning, I timed my approach to the Sepulveda Pass for 10:00
AM. With luck, the morning rush would be over, producing a lull before
afternoon traffic built to yet another peak. All went well until I
neared the intersection of I-405 and U.S. Hwy 101. There, traffic slowed
to a crawl and did not regain equilibrium for the next ten miles.
As
I ascended the Santa Monica Mountain grade, traffic snapped and bucked
like a Chinese dragon. In terms of vehicular energy flow, it was
equivalent to an acute myocardial infarction. As I approached the crest,
I could see why our traffic moved so listlessly. Appearing atop the
hill since my last visit, two enormous mobile cranes stood like
sentries, one on either side of the freeway. From my viewpoint, the
cranes appeared to be twice the height of the 100-foot tall bridge. The
scene was so startling that traffic slowed to a crawl and then stayed
that way until I was well beyond the construction scene.
Based on traffic delays alone, the current replacement plan makes no
economic sense. Once this slow motion economic disaster is complete,
Los Angelinos can then look forward to doing it all over again. From
the coming Carmageddon II, right through construction and opening,
those who drive in LA shall experience traffic jam déjà vu all over
again. With the uncountable hours wasted by drivers sitting in traffic
below, we hope that the hilltop locals who blocked the single-phase
project are happy now.
Thanks to the local “design purity movement”, motorists will experience inconvenience for years to come. I wonder what the late Steve Jobs
would think of this version of design purity. Unless he personally
owned a house with an unobstructed view of the finished bridge, I doubt
that he would have supported this cause.
As traffic loosened up, my vitriol for the Mulholland Drive locals faded from my consciousness. Traffic broke free near Wilshire Blvd.
in West Los Angeles, and I sailed along at 65 mph. After crossing
under Interstate I-10 (the Santa Monica Freeway), I observed a complete
absence of vehicular traffic on northbound I-405. As I approached
Venice Blvd., I witnessed the culmination of a California Highway
Patrol traffic break on the northbound side of the freeway. Led by an
animal control van, two CHP cruisers and several CHP motor officers
sped away from a phalanx of stopped traffic that stretched for miles
into the distance.
Listening
to a later radio traffic report, I learned that someone had called to
report an injured cat on the freeway. For the sake of that feline and
in honor of the kind soul who reported it, perhaps 25,000 vehicles came
to an extended halt on the busiest freeway in Los Angeles. Upon
entering an LA freeway, a small animal’s chances of survival are almost
nonexistent. I am an animal lover and have a pet cat myself. Still, I
hope that iPhone toting animal lovers do not report every small animal
that enters the roadway. If they insist on doing so, Los Angeles
traffic may never move smoothly again.
On my return trip, later that day, I approached Sepulveda Pass from the
south. From there I could see the Mulholland Drive Bridge and its
attendant cranes. Silhouetted against the northern sky, the two cranes,
new concrete bridge supports and the remaining bridge deck manifested as art.
It is a sight so awe-inspiring that despite traveling uphill, many
drivers involuntarily slam on their brakes. As traffic-engineers know,
if enough motorists hit their brakes, somewhere behind them, traffic
will stop. My morning traffic had stopped three or four miles short of
the dramatic hilltop scene.
As
witnessed by their reactions to car crashes and brush fires, LA
motorists have a perverse relationship with those who trail behind
them. During such events, the collective reaction is predictable. To
themselves motorists say, “I’ve been delayed by the unknown and now I
can see it, so I am going to slow down and gawk to my heart’s content”.
That day, of course, group consciousness among LA motorists was true to form.
My slow trips through Sepulveda Pass that day allowed me to see the
sights. If you hope to view this high art sculpture for yourself, come
to LA before 2016. If you miss the first round of bridge building,
plan your visit for the second round in 2013 or 2014. Perhaps Caltrans
can rejoin both halves of the new Mulholland Drive Bridge by 2015.
Then, hilltop homeowners can emerge from their survival shelters and
enjoy the purity of design that they forced upon us all. Thank you
again, local homeowners, for triggering the super slow motion
Carmageddon that we now endure.
Email James McGillis
By James McGillis at 02:06 PM | Current Events | Comments (0) | Link
