The last phase of the rebuilt eastbound Wilshire Boulevard onramp to the northbound 405 Freeway opened Thursday, culminating a months-long construction effort.
Construction crews removed barricades on the ramp at about 6 a.m.
The Westside's Wilshire Boulevard is one of the most congested roads in the county. The 405 Freeway is one of the most congested freeways in the country.
According to Metro officials, an estimated 87,000 drivers use the eastbound Wilshire Boulevard to northbound 405 Freeway ramp every day.
The new ramp is three times the length of the original ramp and should improve increased capacity, as well as key safety improvements for drivers. Officials said the larger ramp is 3,100 feet-long and can handle 300 percent more vehicles.
This was the last of eight ramps that have been redone in the 405 Sepulveda Pass Freeway Widening and Improvement Project. The project is a year delayed and $75 million over budget.
"It's a lot safer," said Metropolitan Transportation Authority Media Relations Manager Marc Littman. "Instead of weaving in and out of traffic, people getting in and getting off, they're totally separated. This ramp, itself, is more than 3,100 feet long. The previous ramp, built in the 50s, was 824 feet, a lot more capacity, a lot safer, a lot more efficient."
Construction at the interchange forced the closure of the Wilshire interchange ramps beginning in late July.
The ramp work was part of the three-year, $1 billion widening and reconstruction of 10 miles of the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass.
A news conference was held by Metro at the Kiewit Construction Yard on the 1200 block of South Sepulveda Boulevard at 10 a.m. to celebrate.
