🚀 go-pugleaf

Here's the biggest thing that Caltrans and local traffic agencies
failed at during yesterday's (Friday, Feb. 2, 2007) closure of
northbound I-405 and the resulting traffic problems throughout the
west side of L.A:  A Contingency Plan!

I have long believed that there needs to be a contingency plan for
each direction of traffic at every interchange.  Here's one version of
the contingency plan for NB I-405 at US-101:

Start by closing southbound Sepulveda from Ventura Blvd to Church
Lane.  At the Moraga exit, take the left turn traffic from NB 405 in a
cone-protected left onto the wrong side of Sepulveda, but only taking
1 of the 2 SB lanes.  At the Getty Center exit, do likewise, providing
a cone-protected left into the far left lane of what is now a 4-lane
one-way northbound Sepulveda.  At Ventura Blvd, configure the 8
existing lanes as 2 left, 2 right and 4 straight, converting one
southbound lane to northbound use from Ventura Blvd to US-101.
Provide a 2-lane right onto the SB US-101 entrance and go back to the
standard 3 northbound lanes beyond US-101.  Provide signed detours to
NB US-101 via: (Magnolia east to Van Nuys south), (Burbank west to
I-405 south), (Burbank west to Balboa), (Ventura Blvd west to
Haskell), and (Ventura Blvd west to Balboa).

This plan would require numerous traffic cones, Left Turn Only, Right
Turn Only, and One Way signs to be posted and monitored, and traffic
officers at numerous intersections.  But it's better than just letting
everyone fend for themselves.

Caltrans demonstrated just how creative it could be during the post-
earthquake closure of parts of the I-405/CA-14 interchange; they
converted part of Sierra Highway into a one-way road, despite the
presence of a center divider, and they routed cars onto the Truck
Route lanes on the surviving parts of the freeway.