"Carmageddon", L.A. Style
POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Saturday, July 23, 2011 02:37
VIEWED: 5107
PAGE 1 of 3
Hysterical. Sorry, but as a No. Californian, with only one major freeway running through our entire county, and having driven in L.A., I can't help but giggle:Quote:
To hear Angelenos talk about the news, you'd think we were bracing for the Big One. Or maybe preparing for something worse than the dire stretch of earthquakes, floods, fires and riots that hit us in the 1990s. Celebrities in Los Angeles are tweeting about the calamity; hospitals are up in arms about it; local news channels are calling it "Carmageddon." What could cause so much panic? If you live in L.A. and you don't know what I'm referring to, the next sentence may lead to more stress in your life. It's the 53-hour-long shutdown of part of the 405 freeway from the evening of July 15 through July 17.
A road closure? On a weekend? All this distress over that? Well, it's not just any road. It's the 10-mile (16 km) stretch of concrete that connects the west side to the San Fernando Valley. It usually carries half a million people on the weekend, making it one of the busiest sections of one of the most dreaded roadways in L.A., home to the U.S.'s worst traffic.
The anxiety this is causing around Los Angeles is a reflection of the intimate, love-hate relationship we have with our freeways. People love their cars in this spread-out metropolis. Public transportation, carpooling and walking are often shunned, which makes the freeways a central part of Angelenos' lives. Ginger Chan, a traffic reporter for the local television station KTLA, says she even flirted with someone in bumper-to-bumper traffic once. "I have had that happen to me, where some guy is trying to get my attention and we're both smiling at each other," she says.
At times, to hear us talk about the freeways, you'd think they were our most prized possession. A friend who recently moved to L.A. from the East Coast noted that if he's at a loss for words at a party, he can always strike up a conversation about traffic. If you want to do this and you're from out of town, some important points. First, they're "freeways," not "highways" or "toll roads," as they are in other parts of the country. Second, L.A. lingo dictates that a freeway must be referred to with the article the preceding it. You don't take "10 West" or "Interstate 10"; you take "the 10." Another friend from the East thinks the implication with this is that L.A.'s freeway is the only one, or at least the most important one; as if "the 10" that goes through L.A. is more special than the rest of Interstate 10 that stretches across the country.
Our traffic lingo doesn't stop there. We also have the SigAlert. According to the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, the term came about in the 1940s when police became accustomed to notifying local radio reporter Loyd Sigmon about car accidents in the city. Caltrans adopted the term to mean a wreck that ties up two or more lanes of a freeway. Today the term is so common, you can go to sigalert.com to check the status of the freeways.
That brings me to the hate part of the relationship. We know traffic is inevitable, but we abhor it anyway — and can't stop complaining about it. An Angeleno trapped on a freeway by a SigAlert is likely to compare his fate to a human-rights violation. Check out sigalert.com on a given Friday afternoon: you'll see a lot of red lines. Those freeways are jammed. We pray for some yellow. Green would be an absolute miracle. Chan at KTLA likens the freeways to Murphy's Law, the adage that if anything can go wrong, it will. They're "the only way to get to certain places, so they're always jammed," says Chan, whose husband pilots the station's traffic helicopter. "I rarely get stuck, because I can't stand it. It's like pouring acid on me. I always say, I will drive in bad
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Jeezus. I've been to LA three different times, and the 405 was a parking lot every single time. It's bad when things are GOOD - it's barely moving at 3 in the morning! Can you imagine what it's going to be like while the construction is going on?
I don't envy anyone in SoCal right now. (And I generally LIKE SoCal, but like NoCal a fair bit better.)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
That was a funny article, how it described the way to talk about traffic down there.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Y'know, it's not really THAT much worse than Austin traffic, really. I can go months on end without ever getting on I-35 here in Austin, and I'm happier if it stays that way. I have my area of town, and I tend to be kind of "tribal" about it, and stay pretty close to my area. I'll venture north of the river occasionally, but only maybe once every couple months.
I've worked where I had to commute across town, and frankly I'd find a different job if that were the case now. It's a deal-killer. There is so much quality of life lost by being stuck in traffic for hours per day.
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I missed the part where it's my problem.
Y'all have fraked your state up, all by yourselves.
Now deal w/ it.
" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
I missed the part where it's my problem.
Y'all have fraked your state up, all by yourselves.
Now deal w/ it.
That's what I said when tornadoes hit Tuscaloosa. Why is it MY problem? Why should MY tax money go to help people who made poor life choices? If they're stupid enough to live there - and let's face it, they are - then why should I bail them out?
Similarly, why is whether or not Iraq has WMD *MY* problem?
If Iran gets nukes, why should I care? They're absolutely no threat to me, and Israel has fracked itself up all by themselves, so if they get nuked, that's their problem, right?
Wow, you really CAN solve all the world's problems just by being a selfish bint! Well... you can solve YOUR problems, at least. Who gives a fuck about anyone else, right?
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
No one chooses to get hit w/ tornadoes.
No one chooses to have a mad man slaughter your entire village w/ WMD.
Your reply was inane, and completely misses the point.
As usual.
Go away.
" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
No one chooses to get hit w/ tornadoes.
No one chooses to have a mad man slaughter your entire village w/ WMD.
Sure they do, inasmuch as people "choose" to have horrible traffic congestion. They might not INTEND to choose these things, but they live in areas where such things occur, and they knew the odds before they made their choice to live there. Ergo, they chose poorly. Remember, this is the CONSERVATIVE position on these things, espoused by you and others: If shitty things happen to you, tough shit - make better choices in your next life!
Quote:
Your reply was inane, and completely misses the point.
As usual.
Says the dolt whose oh-so-relevant reply was "not my problem". Talk about inane.
Why didn't you say something as stupid as "sure looks shiny..."?
Quote:
Go away.
Hey, you were supposed to stop responding to me. Another thing you lied about, eh? ;)
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I ruttin' LIVE HERE, and it ain't MY problem- I drove the 405 the other day for the first time in YEARS- from Long Beach to Torrance, 70 mph all the way, thru the 710, 91 and 110 interchanges, in mid morning. No problems!
Now, I wouldn't drive it from 7:00 AM to about 9:00, or about 4:30 pm to about 6:30, nor anywhere closer to LAX anytime, nor any freeway to downtown LA, nor I-5 ANYWHERE, but if you avoid those major constant headaches, and allow time, they do work.
Anybody who expects them to work at 65 mph during rush hour is gonna get bit, sooner than later, because it only takes one mistake by any of the many fools driving those roads to screw up a lot of peoples' day for quite a spell. Can't leave your house 30 miles away from your job 30 minutes before you'll be late during rush hour with a million other clowns and expect to make it on time, which is what far too many people do.
I've gotten around for years, and am rarely late, whether I drive or take the admittedly bad public transportation.
And surprisingly, public transportation may not be fast nor convenient, but it is fairly cheap, and you can get around on it.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
It's just too easy.. I can't resist.
Meh heh heh.
I love that game.
And yeah, public transportation infrastructure sucks ass anywhere in the US, some places worse than others, some MUCH worse.
-F
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME