How many total lanes will there be on the 405? (Glendale: construction, rail)

[HeliumMacaroni]

Howdy,

Something has been confusing me as of late regarding the Sepulveda Pass widening project. I've developed an intimate relationship with the 405 having just gotten a new job in Santa Monica and commuting from Glendale. If you go to the project website, they tout such improvements such as the 10-mile HOV lane on the northbound 405. You've probably seen the site but just in case, here it is: I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project

I'm wondering though how many total lanes there will be when the project is completed because some of the math doesn't seem to add up.

So, obviously, by driving by all the construction, you can certainly see that the width of the freeway is getting quite large, which definitely would accomodate the new HOV lane on the northbound side, but in many areas of the construction, the new widths of the bridges, etc, would seem to indicate that they seem to be making room for an additional lane on the southbound route as well. I've noticed that on both the NB and SB sides of the freeway have 5 lanes total, the SB 5 lanes include the existing HOV lane. Since they're adding a completely new lane on the NB side, which would make 6 lanes total, will they be compensating with an additional lane on the SB side since it would be uneven?

Technically, the SB side of the freeway has 6 lanes total until you hit Skirball, where the lane transitions into an offramp. The surround construction around all the bridges seem to suggest room for 6 lanes for each side, additionally, a few project renderings, such as the completed Wilshire Loop seem to show 6 lanes on each side: http://www.metro.net/projects_studie...amps_final.jpg

Anyhoo, sorry for the rambling, I've just become quite curious about it seeing all the construction first hand, seeing the project renderings, but the project website not mentioning anything about an additional SB lane.

[HarryKerry]

This project was all about the HOV lanes and the Federal money to do it, and they almost lost the money and had to fight to secure it. Now, Caltrans wanted a more ambitious widening of the 405 for more lanes, but the residents kaboshed it as it would've required Caltrans to take some or too much property of adjacent homeowners.

The irony is that many of the residents felt the era of adding more lanes of traffic had passed and that Caltrans and the MTA should've put in some kind of rail line, something the residents supported for enduring all the pain of the construction. Of course, the Federal money could not be used for that and the 405 HOV is part of a master plan to have HOV lanes on all freeways in LA county, something I think Orange County has already or is very close to achieving.

The feeling is that after all this mess, what we get will NOT really solve nor provide any alternative to the huge problem of the 405 corridor between West LA and the Valley. We aren't going to see much real world improvement.

I, for one, agree, and think that there should be a rail line, ideally operated by Metrolink (not the LACMTA) as it would serve both LA and Orange Counties, in the median of the 405 all the way down to 405/5 split at Irvine Spectrum and Irvine transportation Center where it connects with Metrolink and Amtrak. Caltrans countered that they would have to take away at least the same amount of land from homeowners for a rail line and that would not address the residents balking at any of their land being taken away.

Did you see the crowing today about the widening and HOV lanes and improvements for a short segment of the 5 from the OC line to about Sante Fe Springs. Talk about a lot of money and trouble for a big NOTHING!

[bhcompy]

They might be doing addition by subtraction, which is what they're doing at the 405/605/22 interchange. Add HOV merge lanes, subtract regular lanes. Sucks.

[jorge112597]

there will be 6 lanes on both sides i dont know about the skirball center

[Charles]

They'll probably have to rename that freeway too. Maybe to the 607 or something like that. The extra lanes may speed things up a little. Right now you average 4or5 miles an hour; the speeds should rise to 6or7 miles an hour.

[sprint100]

It all makes sense in regards to HOV lanes and federal funding since the HOV lanes have to have cars travel at a minimum speed flow in order for the state to get the money.

"The push comes three months after the Federal Highway Administration declared California's carpool lanes out of compliance with federal regulations, which require the lanes to flow at speeds of 45 mph or faster at rush hour."
http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep...l/me-carpool12

[00molavi]

It will just increase the "parking" spots. The 405 & the 5 are always so busy that no matter how many lanes are added the added cars are just on the ramps ready to jump in.