Community Corner

Avoid Mulholland Bridge, MTA Urges

With schools reopening, transportation authorities urge motorists to use alternative routes to ease traffic crunch during bridge construction work.

Six of the most expensive private schools in Los Angeles County are located on Mulholland Drive in the Sepulveda Pass area of Sherman Oaks. Parents who drop off students at these schools in the morning often use the Mulholland Drive bridge over the San Diego (405) Freeway to go back and forth.

In addition, thousands of commuters heading from the West San Fernando Valley to West Los Angeles use the Mulholland Drive bridge  as a shortcut to get on the 405, heading south.

It's estimated that 20,000 motorists cross the bridge on weekdays, according to county Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Dave Sotero.

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Now local transportation officials are urging motorists to avoid using the Mulholland Drive bridge during the week.

Half of the bridge was demolished July 16-17, a weekend that came to be known as "Carmageddon" because of the closure of the 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass to accommodate the bridge work. With the bridge now providing only one lane of travel in each direction, officials with Metro and the city Department of Transportation are asking motorists to use alternate routes and reserve the bridge for local access only.

Find out what's happening in Sherman Oakswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"If we can get less of these drivers to use this particular route, that's what we'd like to see," Sotero said.

Congestion in the area could be aggravated by out-of-state visitors unfamiliar with the construction project, officials said. Metro will place warning signs on nearby streets used to access the area, particularly in Sherman Oaks and Encino.

Traffic-control officers will be working at the intersection of Mulholland and Skirball Center drives beginning next Monday during the morning rush hours to help keep traffic moving.

Sotero credited the Mulholland Education Corridor Association for increasing the use of ride-shares and pushing for staggered school start times in the two years leading to the bridge project. Directors at , Westland and Milken Community schools were not immediately available for comment.

The bridge project is part of a $1-billion effort to add a carpool lane on the freeway through the Sepulveda Pass and make other improvements. The overall project is expected to be completed in 2013.

City News Service contributed to this story.


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