Freeway ramps reopen early

Three weeks ahead of schedule and just in time for the back-to-work crush next week. They're the westbound Wilshire Boulevard on-ramp to the northbound 405 and the northbound 405 Freeway off-ramp to westbound Wilshire Boulevard. The closures did result in tie-ups on nearby streets leading to the 405, but nothing close to the nightmares some had predicted. Of course, the work was done during the summer, when most of UCLA was shut down and traffic is generally lighter. We'll see what happens when the six other Wilshire Boulevard ramps are rebuilt. Caltrans expects closures ranging 14 to 90 days over the next year. The next episode of "rampture" is not expected until November - and will likely run just 14 days.