Carmageddon 2 - The Sequel That Will Disappoint

“Carmageddon 2” is about to premiere at the top of Mulholland Drive. This time the controversy pits Valley commuters against local residents and the students attending the schools along Mulholland Dr. This sequel stars the residents of the exclusive neighborhoods on both sides of the 405 freeway and the Mulholland Scenic Highway planning group along with Encino homeowners who demanded a more scenic highway experience. You will remember that it was their demands that require a second dose of freeway closures in about 1.5 years.  New additions to the cast are the hundreds of students who attend school at the exclusive schools on either side of the Sepulveda pass.  

This time the story will open on the start of the school season and feature an expected tripling of the number of trips experienced this past July. Next week the exclusive schools that bracket the Sepulveda Pass will begin classes and with the new school year grid lock net before experienced in the area is expected to set in.

What are the answers? They cannot come on the backs of commuters, residents or students alone but on all three groups. The director of this messy sequel is the LA County MTA. The agency has plans to help people move through the area with the help of LA DOT personnel and a cadre of directional signs. Residents and commuters will need to moderate their plans by traveling at different times and taking different routes to their destinations along seldom used back roads, which will spread the pain to heretofore untouched neighborhoods. This leaves the students and their families as the only characters that can be cast as the martyrs. They alone will likely be required to do anything different from normal comings and goings. Does this mean carpooling, or buses? Does this mean the end of after school events and staggered school starting times?    

Residents at the top of Mulholland Drive will ultimately emerge as the villains in this sequel with their demands for privacy and no new anything in their back yards. They may however, need face the fact that another road leading directly to Sepulveda passing must be built. They have fought every move to improve Mulholland and will certainly oppose any move that brings more traffic to their hilltop neighborhood but this is the world we live in. Even if the road could be built as an emergency outlet it would be better alternative to the status quo. Does this mean a road through the former Mission Canyon landfill or some other route? I have no idea but our city planners and LADOT need to get their act together fast. The alternative to waiting is a disaster of our own creation.

Will there be a “Carmageddon 3”? You can bet on it. The City of Los Angeles with its politically correct leadership is so afraid of losing their jobs that they will continue to kick the can down the road for as long as we let them.

On a four star scale, four being the great and one a stinker, I give “Carmogeddon 2”, two stars for high drama and special effects that lacks real character development. It is long on promise but is sure to disappoint everyone in the end. I’d recommend we all avoid this crash scene but unfortunately we will all be required to live through it.