When commuters are having a nightmare, radio stations are hearing the cash register jingle. Such will be the case in Los Angeles CA, when a major stretch of highway will be shut down for 53 hours starting Friday evening, 7/15/11 and going until early in the AM Monday 7/18/11.
According to the Orange County Register, the shut-down will impact I-405, specifically, about ten miles worth of the Sepulveda Pass between Highway 101 and Rt. 10.
The authorities will give the Friday rush hour a chance to start winding down, then will start closing down ramps to the highway. Lanes will start to go at about 10PM, and by midnight, the closure is expected to be complete.
It is not expected to host a private vehicle until 5AM Monday morning. As the Register put it, the situation “…gives a whole new meaning to ‘morning drive’ radio.”
Forget morning – radio interests are already getting ready to provide wall-to-wall coverage of what promises to be a major traffic event, with those unlucky enough to be forced onto the highways will no doubt be desperate for detailed up-to-the-minute information.
In fact, according to the Register, Metro Traffic and Total Traffic Network have already spent weeks preparing for the event. And many radio stations have their own special plans.
RBR-TVBR observation: Radio needs to fiercely defend its dominance in America’s vehicles, with in-vehicle access to the internet coming with all due haste. One way to do it is to remain the very best source of pertinent and vital local information that national or automated services cannot begin to reproduce.
In closing, may the traffic in your region remain horrible, and may you too benefit some day from a special traffic nightmare such as the one in store for southern California.
