Carmagedd-a-Ragnarok

Source: ca.dot.gov

 

So, Carmageddon’s come and gone… at least the initial day one rush. Now, the Interstate 405 is currently shut down as of the writing of this post, but a cursory look at the map at TeleNav.com shows just how un-armageddon-like traffic is at this hour.

I don’t think it was all hype, though it’s easy to look at what is currently going on and say that it was. Let’s look at it from this perspective… people, in general, are terrible about taking action until it’s too late! Just look at how difficult it is to get husbands to a doctor, or how people will wait to get a car into a mechanic until it costs more than it should’ve. We just don’t do anything until we have to many times and it is for this reason that I think all the doom and gloom was a good thing. It kept people off the roads. It’s actually pleasant right now out there on the freeways if you need to get somewhere (See the screenshot below).

Look at all of that green space! If you’ll notice, the section of the 405 freeway which is currently closed is marked in purple. “Why,” you ask? Because TeleNav has that marked off-limits so that when you hit their site and plug in your addresses you can have directions which re-route you around the closure (you can send them to your phone from there as well). Cool huh? Well, if you’re really into all of this Carmegeddon madness, you may also take a look at this link to local Fox affiliate, KTTV’s internet Carmageddon cam which is pointed at the Mulholland bridge (its demolition, the reason for the freeway shutdown) and watch live as the bridge comes down!

There’s just one catch to all of this… with everyone staying in today and seeing just how light the traffic is, what can we expect tomorrow? Will we see a rush of people out and about? It was supposed to be gloomy this weekend, but it’s turned out to be an awesome Southern California weather beach weekend so will some of those 500k folks living on the other side of the hill, brave the closure and attempt a visit to one of the lovely beaches? There were also many folks who said that they’d be leaving out of town to avoid the crunch so with all those folks returning (if in fact, that many left in the first place) Sunday, will that make traffic a mess in the later hours? Who knows! One thing is for sure though and that is, it looks like when all is said and done, those 3 hour traffic delays we were supposed to see which were supposed to rock our city may have been more like Ragnarok… a carmageddon myth of epic proportions.

About Tshaka Armstrong

Tshaka Armstrong is the husband to one awesome wife, dad to three awesome children. On any given day you may find him posting internet & tech family safety info here and on his personal blog www.digitalshepherds.com, or chatting with his tweeps when he's not dadvocating here. Join in the conversation, drop a line, share a joke and join him in encouraging each other to be awesome!