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Descent Into Madness; Sport Driving in Los Angeles at the 101/405 Interchange |
Written by Laura Zinkan
Friday, 06 April 2007
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Driving in California is always an adventure, in Los Angeles, the sport
of driving has been elevated to an art form. Like qualifying for
the Indy 500 pole position, you never know who you will be sharing the
road with. Some drivers are on their cell phones arguing with
their agents, boyfriends or psychiatrists. Others are putting on
makeup for that big audition, or suffering from either caffeine
overdoses or withdrawal symptoms. Some days it takes a unique mix of
passive aggression, anger management and an inner connection with your
auto insurance agent to make it safely across our vast freeway
expanses. On a recent drive, we found ourselves traveling north on the Interstate 405 freeway through the treacherous Sepulveda Pass down into the San Fernando Valley. That's why I'm calling this little essay Descent Into Madness. Interstate 405, or the San Diego Freeway is the major north / south artery connecting LA's San Fernando Valley with The West Side of Los Angeles. U.S. 101, or the Ventura Freeway runs east and west along the southern part of The Valley, and connects Los Angeles with Ventura County in the north. These two arteries intersect at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains range in a tangle of concrete called the 101 / 405 Interchange. This interchange is rated #1 on the list of America's 24 Worst Highway Bottlenecks. To cross The Pass in the old days you needed to use a dirt road called Sepulveda Boulevard. At the top of the mountains it ducked into an art deco tunnel under Mulholland Highway. Today the best route is the 405 Freeway which blasted its way through the rocky mountain pass and now flows over the top of the Santa Monica Mountain range, down towards U.S. Route 101. Mulholland crosses over the 405 on a huge steel bridge flying across the freeway. Drop by http://www.AngelCityArt.com to see photos. Under optimum conditions, it is a dangerous section of highway. It has six lanes of cracked and patched asphalt with only painted white lines and Bott's Dots separating you from your fellow drivers. California is attempting a massive improvement project at the 101 / 405 Interchange which just adds to the challenge by turning it into a huge obstacle course. Ominous steel cranes loom over the freeway with distracting signs and construction equipment littering the sides of the road. The slope on this small stretch of highway is steep, so that just adds to the speeding, careening and screeching. Drivers on the right are frequently stopped or slowing as cars cram into lanes for the Ventura freeway exits. Drivers on the left are usually speeding up in the thinning traffic as they continue north on the 405 through the Valley. If everyone stayed in their lanes the arrangement just might work. Unfortunately that isn't the case. Cars cut across lanes of traffic because they're going to miss the 101 turn-off. Drivers also slam on their breaks when they realize how steep the grade is and their SUV is picking up too much speed; "Hold the phone honey, I gotta drive". Irritated drivers in the right hand lanes are sick of everyone cutting in line, so they won't let you in. There is a lot of sudden braking and jockeying for position, reminiscent of the Indy 500 on the final laps. The middle lane becomes sort of a no-man's land of crisscrossing cars, like a dangerous ballet of flying steel with flying cell phones and travel mugs. Until the highway improvements are finished, this interchange raises the thrill level for driving in Los Angeles to an art form. Don't forget to buckle up and in the words of the immortal traffic guru and punster Bill Keene; "Be alert and you won't get hurt". Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com |
About The Author:
Laura Zinkan is a freelance writer and artist in Los Angeles, California. You can share her unique vision of LA at http://www.AngelCityArt.com She also cultivates a gardening website at http://www.theGardenPages.com with plant profiles on succulents and California native plants. Copyright 2007 by Laura Zinkan (LauraZinkan.com) This article may be reprinted as long as author credit is given with website. All rights reserved.
Laura Zinkan is a freelance writer and artist in Los Angeles, California. You can share her unique vision of LA at http://www.AngelCityArt.com She also cultivates a gardening website at http://www.theGardenPages.com with plant profiles on succulents and California native plants. Copyright 2007 by Laura Zinkan (LauraZinkan.com) This article may be reprinted as long as author credit is given with website. All rights reserved.
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