Metro Warns Of Months Of Westside Travel Delays
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority warned Friday that drivers should expect delays around Sepulveda Boulevard in Westwood starting Monday and continuing for three months while
crews do utility work under the road.
As part of a $1 billion project to widen the San Diego (405) Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass, the energy firm Chevron needs to move a gas line that runs underneath Sepulveda Boulevard.
The move requires workers to drill underground, beginning near Sepulveda and Montana Avenue. The drilling exit point will be the intersection of Sepulveda and Moraga Drive.
Metro spokesman Dave Sotero said the work requires Metro to close one southbound lane of Sepulveda adjacent to the drill's entry and exit points.
Most of Sepulveda between the two intersections will be fully open, but "any closure on Sepulveda is a problem," Sotero said.
Crews are scheduled to work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for three months.
Traffic will also be exacerbated by the closure of the southbound 405 off-ramp at Sunset Boulevard for at least another week.
Sotero said crews are ahead of schedule on raising approaches to Sunset Bridge, which will be about
four feet higher on one side. The off-ramp is scheduled to reopen Oct. 30.
Metro also said today that it is delaying major construction to the on- and off-ramps of the 405 at Wilshire Boulevard.
That construction also is expected to take months and snarl traffic on the Westside.
Sotero said the delay is unrelated to the work beginning Monday on Sepulveda.
