First flyover ramp opens at Wilshire and the 405

The Westside is starting to slowly wake up from its long traffic nightmare around the 405 freeway construction, known officially as the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project. Metro said today that the first of the new flyover ramps to eliminate weaving between drivers entering and leaving the freeway has opened early. The transit agency says on its blog The Source:

The southbound I-405 offramp to eastbound Wilshire Boulevard officially was open for its very first work-day rush-hour commute this morning (Monday, Sept. 23), and is a whopping 300 percent longer than the previous off-ramp. The original ramp, built as part of the Wilshire Interchange in the mid-1950s, was only 1,330 feet. The new ramp is 3,117 feet long and provides a dedicated lane for all exiting traffic to the Westwood area, one of the largest job centers in L.A. County.

Construction of the ramp was originally slated for a 90-day closure similar to previous Wilshire interchange ramps. However, the contractor was able to completely avoid the closure by developing alternate work plans and performing work primarily during night-time hours....

The newly completed ramp is the second to last ramp to be completed at this interchange. The eastbound Wilshire on-ramp to the northbound I-405 is the last remaining ramp now under construction, and is scheduled to open in mid-late November.

The new ramp configuration removes the perilous weave that occurred between motorists who had to compete for ramp space as they exited and entered the freeway from Wilshire Boulevard. The dedicated ramps eliminate these conflicts and the additional storage capacity will help remove auto congestion from the freeway itself.

K.N. Murthy, Metro's executive director of transit project delivery, says all the Wilshire Boulevard interchange ramps should be open by the end of the year.

Photo: The Source