5½ mile HOV gap on SB I-405 being closed
larry_scholnick
Carpool Lane) on southbound I-405 has had a gap from just north of
CA-2/Santa Monica Blvd to CA-90/Marina Freeway, a distance of about 5½
miles.
As part of the current construction project, Caltrans is closing that
gap. Each night they complete a little bit more, inching their way
north. As of this morning (10/22/2009), there was only about ½ mile
more to go. They still have to put up (or uncover) the appropriate
signage, but it appears they are just a few days away from opening the
lane.
I'll post progress reports (unless nobody is interested).
The corresponding project on northbound I-405 is not as significant
since there's a much longer gap (from CA-90 to US-101, about 13 miles)
and they are only working on the portion from CA-90 to I-10 (about 3
miles); closing the remaining 10-mile gap will be part of a future
project.
Paul D. DeRocco
>
> For several years, the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane (AKA the
> Carpool Lane) on southbound I-405 has had a gap from just north of
> CA-2/Santa Monica Blvd to CA-90/Marina Freeway, a distance of about 5�
> miles.
>
> As part of the current construction project, Caltrans is closing that
> gap. Each night they complete a little bit more, inching their way
> north. As of this morning (10/22/2009), there was only about � mile
> more to go. They still have to put up (or uncover) the appropriate
> signage, but it appears they are just a few days away from opening the
> lane.
Even though I live right near there, I avoid that road like the plague. So
how many lanes are they going to end up with under I-10? If it's still six,
and two are going to be HOV, that'll be a bigger bottleneck than before. Are
they managing to squeeze a couple extra lanes through?
--
Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pder...@ix.netcom.com
larry_scholnick
> > "larry_scholnick" <larry_scholn...@yahoo.com> wrote
It appears that the NB+SB HOV lanes will be in addtion to the existing
3-NB + 3-SB lanes. Interestingly, they have removed (or at least
greened out) the arrow for through NB traffic to use the 4th lane at
the split with I-10.
D. Stussy
news:a1b22951-49fe-4106...@v15g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 23, 12:25 am, "Paul D. DeRocco" <pdero...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> > "larry_scholnick" <larry_scholn...@yahoo.com> wrote
>
> > For several years, the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane (AKA the
> > Carpool Lane) on southbound I-405 has had a gap from just north of
> > CA-2/Santa Monica Blvd to CA-90/Marina Freeway, a distance of about 5�
> > miles.
>
> > As part of the current construction project, Caltrans is closing that
> > gap. Each night they complete a little bit more, inching their way
> > north. As of this morning (10/22/2009), there was only about � mile
> > more to go. They still have to put up (or uncover) the appropriate
> > signage, but it appears they are just a few days away from opening the
> > lane.
>
> Even though I live right near there, I avoid that road like the plague.
So
> how many lanes are they going to end up with under I-10? If it's still
six,
> and two are going to be HOV, that'll be a bigger bottleneck than before.
Are
> they managing to squeeze a couple extra lanes through?
It appears that the NB+SB HOV lanes will be in addtion to the existing
3-NB + 3-SB lanes. Interestingly, they have removed (or at least
greened out) the arrow for through NB traffic to use the 4th lane at
the split with I-10.
=====
The must have done that in this past week. As of last Saturday, they had
not done so.
Brent Jonas
It sounds like CalTrans accomplished a lot with this project, while I
was away from California over the past 4 months. This project
couldn't be completed soon enough.
Question. How many lanes will there be along I-405, south of I-10?
It seems like there's going to be a total of 14 lanes (10 mixed flow,
2 HOV and 2 auxiliary lanes), based on what I remember observing?
-Brent
larry_scholnick
wrote:
>
> - Show quoted text -
PROGRESS!
They have reconfigured the northbound lanes as they pass I-10. The
new configuration has HOV + 4 at the I-10 split, then losing the right
lane. Now, the HOV designation for the far left lane ends at I-10, so
the far left lane is now open as a general purpose lane. So now, 4
northbound lanes (instead of just 3) emerge from the I-10 bridge. The
2 lanes from westbound I-10 now merge to a single lane, which is added
to the 4 northbound lanes to become 5; it used to be a 3+2 join; now
is is a 4+1 join.
D. Stussy
On Oct 23, 11:34 am, larry_scholnick <larry_scholn...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
> On Oct 23, 12:25 am, "Paul D. DeRocco" <pdero...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> > > "larry_scholnick" <larry_scholn...@yahoo.com> wrote
> > > For several years, the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane (AKA the
> > > Carpool Lane) on southbound I-405 has had a gap from just north of
> > > CA-2/Santa Monica Blvd to CA-90/Marina Freeway, a distance of about
5�
> > > miles.
>
> > > As part of the current construction project, Caltrans is closing that
> > > gap. Each night they complete a little bit more, inching their way
> > > north. As of this morning (10/22/2009), there was only about � mile
> > > more to go. They still have to put up (or uncover) the appropriate
> > > signage, but it appears they are just a few days away from opening
the
> > > lane.
>
> > Even though I live right near there, I avoid that road like the plague.
So
> > how many lanes are they going to end up with under I-10? If it's still
six,
> > and two are going to be HOV, that'll be a bigger bottleneck than
before. Are
> > they managing to squeeze a couple extra lanes through?
>
> 3-NB + 3-SB lanes. Interestingly, they have removed (or at least
> greened out) the arrow for through NB traffic to use the 4th lane at
> the split with I-10.- Hide quoted text -
PROGRESS!
They have reconfigured the northbound lanes as they pass I-10. The
new configuration has HOV + 4 at the I-10 split, then losing the right
lane. Now, the HOV designation for the far left lane ends at I-10, so
the far left lane is now open as a general purpose lane. So now, 4
northbound lanes (instead of just 3) emerge from the I-10 bridge. The
2 lanes from westbound I-10 now merge to a single lane, which is added
to the 4 northbound lanes to become 5; it used to be a 3+2 join; now
is is a 4+1 join.
========
That sucks. They should have made it a 4+2 join (which will be HOV+3+2
when it's extended) and kept the EB->NB a merge with lane 6 (formerly lane
5).
I haven't seen what they did yet. I last came through that interchange
last week (where they hadn't done this yet) and don't plan on using it
again until next weekend.
larry_scholnick
>
> - Show quoted text -
Yes, in some spots (between CA-90 & Culver Blvd, and between Culver
Blvd & Venice Blvd) there are auxiliary lanes, bringing the total to
14 (1 HOV + 5 General Purpose + 1 Auxiliary in each direction).
Between I-10 & Venice Blvd there are 12 lanes. The next project will
extend this freeway size (12-14 lanes) between I-10 & US-101.
larry_scholnick
wrote:
> "larry_scholnick" <larry_scholn...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> - Show quoted text -
They only had room for 5 lanes, so the choices were 4+1 or 3+2. The
northern boundary of this project was the I-10 interchange, so they
could not include the construction of a 6th lane (which would have
been necessary for 4+2).
CAHighway99
Any long-term plans on rebuilding the ramps at the 10/101
interchange? Perhaps even replacing the flyover from 10 west to 405
south, so that perhaps 10 lanes along I-405 can fit thru?
Jonathan L
I've always been curious as to whether serious thought has been given
to modernizing the entirety of the East LA interchange. Some of those
structures must be getting close to end-of-life.
-Jonathan
larry_scholnick
>
> - Show quoted text -
Further widening of I-405 at I-10 does not seem to be a priority; even
at 3+3 that was rarely the bottleneck. With the addition of the HOV
lane it will almost never be the bottleneck.
I drive home daily in the northbound afternoon rush. Most days the NB
freeway crawls until the merge with onramp traffic from Wilshire Blvd
(2 miles north of I-10), then picks up speed.
I drive to work daily in the southbound morning rush. Most days it
crawls from US-101 to Getty Center Drive, then flows freely from
Sunset Blvd (3 miles north of I-10) to beyond CA-90 (3½ miles south of
I-10.)
larry_scholnick
> For several years, the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane (AKA the
> CA-2/Santa Monica Blvd to CA-90/Marina Freeway, a distance of about 5½
> miles.
>
> As part of the current construction project, Caltrans is closing that
> gap. Each night they complete a little bit more, inching their way
> north. As of this morning (10/22/2009), there was only about ½ mile
> more to go. They still have to put up (or uncover) the appropriate
> signage, but it appears they are just a few days away from opening the
> lane.
>
> I'll post progress reports (unless nobody is interested).
>
> since there's a much longer gap (from CA-90 to US-101, about 13 miles)
> and they are only working on the portion from CA-90 to I-10 (about 3
> miles); closing the remaining 10-mile gap will be part of a future
> project.
IT'S OPEN!
In the wee hours of Saturday morning (11/07/2009), they closed the
southbound gap.
The southbound carpool lane that begins in the 1st half mile of I-405
in Granada Hills north of Exit 72/Rinaldi Street, no longer ends at
Exit 55 A/CA-2/Santa Monica Blvd and no longer resumes at Exit 50A/
Jefferson Blvd; instead it continues for the full length of the
freeway to the dedicated HOV flyover connector to the I-5 HOV lanes in
Irvine.
The northbound portion is days away from opening, but it will only
only go from Exit 49 A/Howard Hughes Parkway to Exit 53A/National
Blvd; the northbound gap from there to Exit 63 B/US-101/Ventura
Freeway will remain.
Given that there is now a project under construction to directly
connect the I-5 HOV lanes to the CA-14 HOV lanes at Exit 162 on I-5,
perhaps a future project will directly connect the I-5 HOV lanes to
the I-405 HOV lanes at Exit 158, just 4 miles away.
Brent Jonas
Hey, I was wondering what that construction over at the I-5/CA 14
interchange was all about, all this time. Thanks for clarifying what
was a mystery to me!
How are they going to fit in the HOV ramps in the I-5 median? Is
there really *that* much room already available, or are they having to
widen the thru lanes of I-5 in that area (I'm assuming that means
significantly widening the overpass that I-5 traffic travels on).
I just dunno why I haven't heard/read anything about this project
before?
larry_scholnick
>
> - Show quoted text -
You may remember that during the post-earthquake period there were 4
northbound through lanes at the CA-14 split rather than the 3 lanes
that were there before and the 3 lanes that have remained open since;
the #4 right lane has been paint-striped out. It seems that they can
shift the 3 non-HOV lanes to the right by one lane to make some of the
needed room for the HOV flyover from the center divider; if they need
more room, then they need to actually widen the freeway in that area.
larry_scholnick
>
And here's the L.A. Times blurb:
New lanes open on 405 Freeway through Westside
November 9, 2009 | 6:19 am
After five years of construction, commuters this morning are using new
lanes along the 405 Freeway built as part of a widening project.
New carpool and exit lanes made their debut on the southbound 405
Freeway between the 10 and 90 freeways over the weekend. The existing
traffic lanes were also widened as part of the project.
It's part of a larger effort to widen the 405 Freeway through the
Westside, eventually bringing seamless carpool lanes along the freeway
between Orange County and the Valley. Lanes northbound between the 10
and 90 are expected to open in the coming weeks.
The widening project, which cost $167 million, comes to one of
Southern California's most congested freeways. The nearly $1-billion
widening of the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass is about to begin.
-- Shelby Grad
jgar the jorrible
Dang, I remember when the HH pkwy was bean fields. For that matter, I
remember eating at Airport Village and watching them build the 405
there. Dang.
jg
--
@home.com is bogus.
http://www.insidesocal.com/history/2009/08/hamburger-handout.html
larry_scholnick
Two more changes to report.
One is that the northbound carpool lane is open from Howard Hughes
Parkway (Exit 49 A) to National Blvd (Exit 53 A).
They have re-re-striped the merge of northbound I-405 traffic with
traffic from westbound I-10. The left lane of the 2 lanes from I-10
merges with the #4 northbound lane; the right lane of the 2 lanes from
I-10 becomes the #5 northbound lane. I say re-re-striped because this
replaces the earlier re-striping in which the 2 lanes from I-10 merged
into a single lane before becoming the #5 northbound lane.
D. Stussy
=========
I was wondering when they'd finally do that. No more "cheater lane."