Kajon Cermak’s Carmageddon Wrap Up

Just in case you forgot how wonderful Carmageddon was last year, here is a repost of my Carmageddon Wrap Up! Enjoy!

CHEERS LOS ANGELES!!!!

Not only did we make it through Carmageddon - we soared, and that weekend became heaven.

I’ve never been so proud to be an Angeleno. There will be those malcontents that think it was much ado about nothing. They are wrong. There is only one reason it was nothing. For the first time a city, the second largest city in the country, came together and did everything right.
I’ve never seen/experienced such a huge endeavor with so many moving parts. So many things could have gone wrong. From prepping the public, the weather, an accident on the site, a catastrophic event, to people being selfish – continuing to do their own thing regardless of the consequences.

Everybody did the right thing! Metro, Caltrans, LAPD, the Fire Department, Metrolink, California Department of Transportation, the Jewish Federation of LA, Kiewit – the contractors, CHP, City of LA, Mayor Villaraisgosa, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, Truckers and their affiliated organizations, celebrities, and the most important component YOU!

Because you took the warnings seriously and altered your behavior, you transformed a city; and far from nothing, that was something.

Here are a few photos, thoughts and videos capturing the weekend that the 405 closed.
When LA stood still, there was nothing alien about it. We evolved and learned how to adapt – and we loved doing it.

At KCRW Betsy Moyer asked our friends on Facebook:
“What did you do with yourself this weekend to keep off the freeways!?”

The majority responded in a way that most Angelenos lived that weekend. Their positive attitude made what could have been devastating gridlock into a uniquely transcendental Los Angeles moment. It is estimated that two-thirds of the Southland driving population did not take to their local freeways or their surface streets.
Read their comments here…

Interesting stats from the weekend of the closure:

Planned length of the closure: 53 hours. The actual length: 35 hours, 57 minutes on the southbound 405; 35 hours, 58 minutes on the northbound side.

Amount of money Kiewit Infrastructure West could have been fined for finishing late on the demolition: $72,000 per hour. The bonus Kiewit got for finishing early: $300,000. Savings to the public in salary costs for the early finish (bonus included): $400,000.

The number of vehicles on the northbound 405 at Culver on July 9, the Saturday before Carmageddon: 131,516. The number of vehicles on the northbound 405 at that same location on Carmageddon Saturday: 45,483.

Number of violent crimes reported to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and LAPD on Saturday, July 9: 276. On Carmageddon Saturday: 260.

Number of 911 Fire/EMS calls to Los Angeles County and City Fire departments on July 9, the Saturday before Carmageddon: 2,037. Number of 911 Fire/EMS calls to Los Angeles County and City Fire departments on Carmageddon Saturday: 1,773.

Read more from LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Carmageddon By the Numbers

This video is a hilarious interpretation of the potential looming disaster:

.
.
.
Fearing a loss of millions of dollars, businesses needed to do something and quick. If they play their cards right this could be the marketing opportunity of a life time.
Restaurants started offering drinks and appetizers for $4.05 cents. Facebook pages were born, this one showing a map of LA with all the great deals.
Though maybe the best and funniest deal came from Jetblue… a $4.oo flight from Burbank to Long Beach…The $4 one-way tickets include taxes and fees, plus one piece of luggage. Some out of the 600 people decided to go grocery shopping to utilize their one bag limit.

.
Wolfpack, a cycling group had a race with passengers on one of the jetblue flights…to see who could get to Long Beach quicker. Who won? The Cyclist, even with the rule, of not breaking any traffic laws! Creativity in business, creativity in photography, videos and some people just unplugged – enjoying their local communities, family and friends. Carmageddon had unexpected surprises.
.

.

.

Journalist Kevin Roderick, founder and editor of LAObserved, along with UCLA produced a documentary for KCET. Mr. Roderick reports on LA culture, including notable iconic LA god of writing D.J. Waldie. With the multitude of departments involved and the ramifications of such a huge undertaking. (and with yours truly).

For those of you that think this construction project was nothing, think again. This was not a Y2K scare. This was a city, redefining the infrastructure that moves 300 thousand people a day, a half a million on any given weekend.
.

This time -lapsed video, is a fun way to see the action on the site.
.(

If only every weekend could be as peaceful, free of car pollution, not using petro…all coming together for one magical, incredible weekend. The weekend they shutdown the I405, on the westside through the Sepulveda Pass.