Carmageddon II Put Off Until Late Summer

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority now says that Carmageddon II will not happen until closer to the end of this summer.

The second closure of the 405 Freeway in both directions between the 10 and 101 Freeways was expected to happen this month. 

"We approximated that it would happen now," said Metro spokesman David Sotero. "The key word is approximated. We're looking at late summer."

Sotero did not want to be more specific about the next Carmageddon, in spite of multiple reports claiming that late August was the new target date for the closure.

"We want to come forward with a date," he said, adding that he expects to have a confirmed date in "a couple weeks."

In a community meeting Thursday on the , a Metro representative said the entire project is three to four months behind schedule.

"We have ways within the schedule to reclaim that over the next year, so we’re hoping to get that time back," said Kasey Shuda, manager of construction relations at Metro. "We are still committed to our substantial completion date of spring of next year."

Carmageddon II will accomodate the ongoing demolition and construction of the Mulholland bridge, a must for the widening of the 405. 

Because the Mulholland bridge spans the entire width of the freeway without support columns in the center median of the freeway, the entire freeway must be closed as the old bridge is demolished. The first half of the demolition was completed over the course of a weekend last July and ahead of schedule. The bridge reconstruction is part of the overall project to widen the 405 Freeway.

Sotero said that work is progressing on the Mulholland bridge, but that the contractor has to finish building the new bridge and traffic has to be moved over before the closure to take down the second half of the bridge that was partially demolished last July during Carmaggedon I.