Warnings of 'car-mageddon' posted on freeways, as Internet ads aim to alert motorists

PUBLICITY: Signs on freeways, Internet ads aiming to alertdrivers.

The countdown to car-maggedon has officially begun.

Using electronic freeway signs and Internet banner ads, Caltransis warning motorists to make plans for coping with the closure ofthe San Diego (405) Freeway for 53 hours in mid-July.

From late July 15 through early July18, one of the nation'sbusiest thoroughfares will be closed from the 101 to the 10 Freewaywhile crews dismantle the southern half of the Mulholland Driveoverpass. The bridge is being replaced as part of a $1 billionupgrade to widen and add a carpool lane to the 405.

The closure is expected to create a traffic nightmare - countySupervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has dubbed it "car-maggedon" - asmotorists determined to travel between the San Fernando Valley andthe Westside seek detours over winding canyon roads. Transitofficials, however, want motorists to say as far as possible fromthat stretch of the freeway.

"We have Internet sites picking up on our banner every day," saidDave Sotero, a spokesman for the Metropolitan TransportationAuthority.

More than five dozen electronic billboards have begun carryingmessages about the pending closure, and 30 more will be added inearly July. Signs will also be posted on surface streets.

And so motorists from outside the region don't unwittingly findthemselves caught in the mess, officials plan to post warnings onnorth-south roads from the California-Oregon border.

Meanwhile, lane closures along Sepulveda Boulevard are expectednext week as part of the freeway widening project.

Beginning Monday, trench work will begin on Sepulveda Boulevardbetween Mountaingate Drive and the northern section of SkirballCenter Drive. The project, which will ground utility lines from theDepartment of Water & Power, is expected to last about 11 months.Lane closures will be intermittent during those 11 months and willnot be closed from July 15-18, Sotero said.

Daily News staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.

rick.orlov@dailynews.com

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