Crews made good progress re-paving the carpool lane over the weekend. On Sunday, all work near the Getty Center was completed. Crews began removing barriers to some on ramps to the northbound 405 Freeway Sunday afternoon.
Ramps at Santa Monica Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard were reopened and were to remain open all night, even when the northbound freeway is closed to traffic at Getty Center Drive at midnight.
There were some backups Monday morning, but officials said many drivers heeded the warning and stayed away from the area.
"It's very time-consuming work," said Dave Sotero of Metro. "It's a slow process. The concrete needs to cure, so it's not like we can finish any earlier than the schedule allows."
The closure began Friday night and will continue until Tuesday morning on the northbound lanes of the freeway from Getty Center Drive to Ventura Boulevard. It consisted of a partial daytime lane reduction from five lanes to two, and a full nighttime closure of all lanes.
All lanes are scheduled to reopen around 5 a.m. Tuesday. The 10 Freeway's connectors to the northbound 405 Freeway will remain closed until the end of "Jamzilla."
Throughout the closure, Caltrans will be monitoring the 405 Freeway 24/7 from its traffic management center in Los Angeles, where live cameras show real-time traffic. The center will double as a command post if necessary.
Emergency crews will be given unlimited access to the 405 Freeway with CHP escorts if a civilian emergency arises. Detour routes will be manned with traffic control officers.
According to Caltrans, 150,000 cars use the northbound lanes of the 405 daily.
The entire northbound freeway will be shut down during overnight hours on the following schedule:
- 1 to 6 a.m. Saturday
- 2 to 7 a.m. Sunday
- midnight to 5 a.m. Monday
- midnight to 5 a.m. Tuesday
The freeway is scheduled to reopen around 5 a.m. Tuesday.
CNS contributed to this report.
