A spokesperson for the California Department of Transportation said a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 405 could be fully reopened as early as 3 p.m. Sunday.
At a Sunday morning press conference, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says the freeway will reopen in stages beginning at about 11:30 a.m. because bridge work was completed 16 hours ahead of schedule.
The 405 was previously scheduled to reopen on Monday at 5 a.m. Villaraigosa praised contractors for working on the demolition quickly and thanked drivers for heeding warnings to stay off the road.
Fearing major traffic jams from the temporary shutdown of one of the nation’s busiest freeways, Los Angeles residents worried of “Carmageddon.” Many opted to stay inside for the weekend, while others used the freeway shutdown as an opportunity to promote other means of transportation.
Other Angelenos opted to hit the twitterverse to talk about Carmageddon.
Actress Olivia Wilde tweeted a picture of LA’s empty streets Sunday morning with the text: “Carmageddon rules.”
Britney Spears’ “Femme Fatale” record producer Doctor Luke tweeted, “I wish it was carmageddon every day!!!! Roads are clear!!!!”
Filmmaker Albert Brooks joked, “Breaking News: S.F. now considering tearing down Golden Gate to ease their traffic.”
Samantha Ronson looked for a deeper lesson: “Carmageddon taught me one thing: apparently we don’t all “need” to be in our cars on weekends.”
Kim Kardashian, who avoided Los Angeles altogether for the weekend but is flying back to Los Angeles today, took to her twitter account to stop the trending topic: “Will everyone PLEASE stop tweeting about how clear the freeways are in LA! Watch there be so much traffic Sunday bc everyone thinks its dead.”
