Stretch of Los Angeles's 405 freeway to close this weekend; residents prepare for the worst

So you think you're struck in road-construction hell? Los Angeles residents have braced themselves for “carmageddon” this weekend.

Starting before midnight on Friday until early Monday morning, 10 miles of the northbound Interstate 405 will be closed between U.S. Highway 101 and Interstate 10 in the Los Angeles area so workers can take down half of the Mulholland Drive Bridge as part of a freeway-widening project. A four-mile portion of the southbound lanes will close as well.

The closures will force hundreds of thousands of commuters in the area to take surface streets, detours or just stay home.

Officials say that 70 percent of the weekend traffic that normally would pass through the 10-mile stretch will have to be eliminated or diverted to other routes. This means about 200,000 trips per day would have to be cancelled or changed.

As luck would have it, the L.A. Galaxy soccer team has a game against Real Madrid at the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday, which is expected to bring almost 100,000 more people to the area.

The city has made an effort to get the word out about the impending gridlock, airing public-service announcements on television and radio, while the Los Angeles Times has been publishing articles almost every day.

People in the surrounding areas are bracing for the worst. They expect areas such as Bel Air, Beverly Glen, Sepulveda and Coldwater to pick up the brunt of the travelers, with some residents going as far as leaving town to avoid the mess. Travelers in the area are asked to walk, bike or take public transit to ease the pain.

By Jake Lingeman