Bound To Happen: A Protest Over The 405

It was bound to happen. You mess with LA freeways, you’re going to hear from the Angelenos that live on them.

A group called Angelenos Against Gridlock planned a demonstration Saturday to protest the fact that the 405 freeway widening project is 13 months behind schedule.

“The 405 here is the third busiest freeway in the entire nation,” the group’s Facebook event page reads. “Huge delays impact a huge number of people.”

The delays and added costs recently announced at an LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority construction meeting “will have an onerous effect on commuters, businesses and residents,” David Murphy, the group’s president, told the Los Angeles Times.

The $1 billion-plus freeway widening project is two-thirds completed, but Metro officials announced last week that final completion has been pushed back to mid-2014, Patch reports. They attributed the delays to challenges in relocating major utility lines and moving old Sepulveda Boulevard.

Debbie Nussbaum, who lives in what she refers to as “ground zero” of the freeway construction — bordered by Sunset and Wilshire — told KPCC that she understands that delays happen but it isn’t easy.

“They work at night a lot, so anytime we go to a play, or a friend’s house, or a class late at night, and you come home past 10 o’clock, Sepulveda’s closed, freeway exits are closed,” she said.

The protest was planed for 2 p.m. outside the Westwood Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard. Murphy did not immediately respond to HuffPost for comment.

Related on HuffPost:

PHOTOS OF THE SEPULVEDA PASS PROJECT:
All photos courtesy of the project’s Facebook:

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• Wilshire ramps that will be closed on the 405 freeway.

• This photo of the Wilshire Bl/I-405 ramps looks southwest. You’ll notice the Los Angeles National Cemetery sits at the lower right. Beginning June 22, two of the ramps will be demolished, the beginning of 90 days of reconstruction. The photo was taken June 10. Photo by Gary Leonard for Metro.

• Rendering of Completed Wilshire Loops

• Widening the I-405 requires rebuilding three overpasses: Sunset Bl., Skirball Center Dr., and Mulholland Dr. The upgraded Sunset Bl. Bridge would feature:
  • Higher capacity on- and-off ramps
  • Seismic upgrades
  • Four-foot-wide road shoulders in each direction
  • Five-foot-wide sidewalks in each direction
  • Thirteen-foot-wide center median

• Rendering of Completed Mulholland Dr Bridge

• Aerial photo of Mulholland Bridge shows work on south side of bridge. Photo was taken looking northeast. Photo by Gary Leonard for Metro.

• Looking southeast, this photo shows the work on the north side of Sunset Bridge, anticipated to be completed in September 2012. The girders placed during the week of April 30 are clearly visible, as is the false work for the new northbound on-ramp from eastbound Sunset. This photo was taken June 10. Photo by Gary Leonard for Metro.

Bound To Happen: A Protest Over The 405