Billboards To Feature Carmageddon Warnings

Los Angeles - Clear Channel Outdoor will donate space on 70 digital billboards throughout the area and along routes leading to the Sepulveda Pass to warn motorists about this weekend's closure of the San Diego (405) Freeway, the company announced today.

Lee Ann Muller, president of Clear Channel's Southern California Division, said the billboards would be instrumental in spreading word about the closure to people who live out of town and have not been subject to the media barrage of information about the freeway shut-down.

"They won't know to plan an alternate route, and they will increase local traffic congestion as they take detours onto surface streets," Muller said. "With billboards located throughout Los Angeles and near many of the region's major freeways, Clear Channel Outdoor is in a unique position to provide the freeway-closure information in a timely and meaningful way to out-of-town travelers and to remind everyone else that this is the weekend when the 405 will be shut down."

The digital billboards will provide information about the closure in English and Spanish, and will include details about free Metro bus and rail service available as an alternative to driving.

The billboards will supplement the messages that have been displayed on digital freeway signs for the past month. In addition to the 64 message boards on L.A.-area freeways, Caltrans placed more than 30 temporary signs on freeways, while 40 to 50 small signs were posted on surface streets.

According to Caltrans, signs warning about the closure have been posted on north/south routes across the state, reaching almost as far north as the Oregon state line.

The 405 Freeway will be closed beginning late Friday night. The northbound freeway will be closed between the Santa Monica (10) and the Ventura (101) freeways. The southbound freeway will be closed from the 101 Freeway to Getty Center Drive.

The 10-mile stretch of the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass typically carries 500,000 cars on weekend days, creating the potential for major gridlock when the route is closed for 53 hours.

The freeway is expected to reopen by 5 a.m. Monday.

The closure is part of a $1 billion project to add carpool lanes and make bridge and ramp improvements on the freeway. During the closure, crews will demolish the southern half of the Mulholland Drive bridge over the freeway.