Metro Hosting Web Chat Today About 405 Closure

Metro officials will turn to the Internet today to provide motorists and residents with advice on how to cope with the impending 53-hour closure of the San Diego (405) Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass.

The transit agency will host a one-hour web chat at www.metro.net between noon and 1 p.m. to provide details of the closure, which is expected to cause traffic nightmares the weekend of July 15-18.

Doug Failing, Metro's executive director of highway projects, and K.N. Murthy, executive director of transit project delivery, are expected to take part in the web chat, answering questions about the project and offering motorists travel advice.

Officials have been warning motorists for weeks about the forthcoming closure, which will clear the road for the beginning of demolition work on the Mulholland Drive bridge over the freeway. The demolition is part of a $1 billion freeway improvement project through the Sepulveda Pass.

The northbound 405 Freeway will be closed for a 10-mile stretch between the Santa Monica (10) Freeway and the Ventura (101) Freeway. The southbound freeway will be closed for four miles between the 101 and Getty Center Drive.

Freeway ramps along the closure area will begin closing around 7 p.m. July 15, with some lanes shut down as early as 10 p.m. to ensure full closure by midnight. The lanes will remain closed until 5 a.m. July 18, with all ramps expected to be reopened by 6 a.m.

During the closure, Sepulveda Boulevard will be designated as an alternate route for area residents only, but the road is expected to be heavily congested nonetheless. Metro, city and county officials have been urging residents to avoid the area altogether.