Santa Monica to Open Emergency Center for Freeway Closure

By Lookout New

June 30, 2011 -- Anticipating major gridlock, Santa Monica will open its Emergency Operations Center and deploy additional public safety personnel when the 405 Freeway shuts down for improvements July 16 and 17.

The center will coordinate the City's response and maintain "the highest level of readiness in the event that unforeseen circumstances occur," City officials said. The City will also deploy additional public safety personnel and critical city staff to "ensure the safety and continuity of city services."

"This is an unusual situation and we are prepared to deal with a high level of traffic congestion in the city," said Ken Semko, Emergency Manager. "We will strategically place public safety resources around the city so that our response times remain at normal levels for our residents and visitors.

"We want the July 16-17 weekend to be an enjoyable summer weekend in Santa Monica, and we need everyone to do their part to plan ahead, stay away from the 405 freeway, and to consider staying home and off the roads," Semko said.

During the weekend, 10 miles of the northbound 405 will be closed between the 10 and 101 freeways to construct a carpool lane, and four miles will be closed between the southbound 405 between the 101 and Getty Center Drive.

During the weekend, crews will demolish the south side of the Mulholland Drive bridge. It will take 11 months to rebuild the bridge. Crews will then demolish the north side of the bridge, requiring another extended freeway closure.

Last week, four major Los Angeles hospitals worried the shutdown would impact their ability to take care of patients if medical employees can't get to work on time.

Traffic updates and status reports will be available on the City's web site , Twitter feed, AM 1680 radio station and CityTV cable channel 16.

For more information on the 405 closure, go to www.metro.net/405 or www.smgov.net/405.