California readies for 'Carmageddon'
Source: Agencies |
July 15, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
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THOUSANDS of doctors and nurses will bunk at hospitals, an emergency operation center will be set up and Southern California residents are being urged to stay home and stock up on food.
One major airline offered US$4 seats to help people avoid the looming mess, selling out of tickets in three hours.
The crisis?
A 16 kilometer stretch of the Interstate 405 highway - a vital artery that links population centers north and south of the Santa Monica Mountains - is shutting down for 53 hours this weekend. The closure, a necessary part of a major highway reconstruction project, is being dubbed "Carmageddon," evoking images of gridlock, road rage and other traffic nightmares that it might spawn in car-dependent Southern California.
Celebrities are among those sounding the alarm, via Twitter messages urging residents to stay off the road starting at midnight Friday.
"This weekend, LA! Avoid Carmageddon, Gas-zilla, 405-enstein, Grid-lock-apalooza! STAY HOME. Eat & shop local," Tom Hanks tweeted this week.
Beyond tongue-in-cheek apocalyptic warnings, city leaders stressed real public safety concerns exist: Helipads have been cleared for air ambulances and 200 extra firefighters and paramedics will be on duty, some of them positioned along the shuttered freeway to protect fire-prone hillsides in the area. Four big hospitals near the freeway on the city's west side are setting up cots and putting thousands of doctors, nurses and medical personnel in hotels and dorm rooms so they don't show up late to their shifts.
The UCLA Health System placed advanced orders for medical supplies and food, even preparing 5,200 box lunches for staff, ahead of the shutdown. It has three helicopter companies on standby to transport patients and human organs in the event of emergency operations.
"You can't take a chance when you deal with patient safety and patient care," said Dr Wally Ghurabi, the emergency director of Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. He planned to sleep in the emergency room throughout the weekend instead of commuting the 32 kilometers from his home in Torrance to the hospital.
Authorities are hammering the same message to drivers. Starting last month, they flashed freeway electronic signs warning drivers to "EXPECT BIG DELAYS."
"The best thing is to stay home if you can, don't drive if you don't have to," said Michael Miles, a California Department of Transportation official. "Be prepared, treat it like it's a disaster."
On a typical July weekend, about a half-million vehicles use the section of the freeway to get to major destinations such as the airport, beaches and interchanges to other major highways. Transportation officials said a full shutdown is necessary to replace the 50-year-old Mulholland Bridge as part of a US$1-billion project to widen the perpetually bottlenecked segment through the Sepulveda Pass.
One major airline offered US$4 seats to help people avoid the looming mess, selling out of tickets in three hours.
The crisis?
A 16 kilometer stretch of the Interstate 405 highway - a vital artery that links population centers north and south of the Santa Monica Mountains - is shutting down for 53 hours this weekend. The closure, a necessary part of a major highway reconstruction project, is being dubbed "Carmageddon," evoking images of gridlock, road rage and other traffic nightmares that it might spawn in car-dependent Southern California.
Celebrities are among those sounding the alarm, via Twitter messages urging residents to stay off the road starting at midnight Friday.
"This weekend, LA! Avoid Carmageddon, Gas-zilla, 405-enstein, Grid-lock-apalooza! STAY HOME. Eat & shop local," Tom Hanks tweeted this week.
Beyond tongue-in-cheek apocalyptic warnings, city leaders stressed real public safety concerns exist: Helipads have been cleared for air ambulances and 200 extra firefighters and paramedics will be on duty, some of them positioned along the shuttered freeway to protect fire-prone hillsides in the area. Four big hospitals near the freeway on the city's west side are setting up cots and putting thousands of doctors, nurses and medical personnel in hotels and dorm rooms so they don't show up late to their shifts.
The UCLA Health System placed advanced orders for medical supplies and food, even preparing 5,200 box lunches for staff, ahead of the shutdown. It has three helicopter companies on standby to transport patients and human organs in the event of emergency operations.
"You can't take a chance when you deal with patient safety and patient care," said Dr Wally Ghurabi, the emergency director of Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. He planned to sleep in the emergency room throughout the weekend instead of commuting the 32 kilometers from his home in Torrance to the hospital.
Authorities are hammering the same message to drivers. Starting last month, they flashed freeway electronic signs warning drivers to "EXPECT BIG DELAYS."
"The best thing is to stay home if you can, don't drive if you don't have to," said Michael Miles, a California Department of Transportation official. "Be prepared, treat it like it's a disaster."
On a typical July weekend, about a half-million vehicles use the section of the freeway to get to major destinations such as the airport, beaches and interchanges to other major highways. Transportation officials said a full shutdown is necessary to replace the 50-year-old Mulholland Bridge as part of a US$1-billion project to widen the perpetually bottlenecked segment through the Sepulveda Pass.
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