WEST LOS ANGELES—On Monday, October 31, the northbound section of the Sunset Boulevard off-ramp demolition phase began for the ongoing I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvement Project. What this means is commuters can expect road closures and traffic detours for the next month. Although a majority of demolition work is taking place during evening hours (usually between midnight and 5 a.m.), Metro officials are asking the public for their cooperation as construction work constantly changes due to weather and structural conditions of the Sunset Bridge.

Rendering of I-405 Freeway courtesy of L.A. Metro.

What started as directional freeway demolition, with one side of the freeway being completely shut down during nighttime when traffic is least congested, has now become a series of short-term additional closures. Since closing the northern half of the Sunset Bridge, daytime traffic has been rerouted, sometimes detoured for safety. Metro representative Dave Sotero spoke with Canyon News. Sotero noted that “the demolition process is essentially chipping and slowly taking down the bridge piece by piece, while this method is slow and irritating for commuters it is the safest method to avoid traffic hazards. Congestion created by construction is painful, but necessary in order to complete the I-405 project.”

Once the demolition is complete, the Sunset Bridge will undergo reconstruction for one year. Sotero said Metro’s main goal is the “complete all construction work and get out as fast as possible.” The overall objective of the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvement Project is to widen the highway near and along the I-405 to reduce heavy traffic. In order to continue the project, all bridges need to be lengthened to coincide with the freeway’s added width.

Currently, the northbound Sunset Bridge demolition should be finished by the end of the month. The I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvement Project is expected to be completed by 2013. Metro asks the public to check metro.net, twitter.com and facebook.com for the most up-to-date information and to be patient with the improvement process.

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