LAX travelers are urged to avoid ‘Century Crunch’ this weekend

Southern California drivers have survived “Jamzilla” and “Carmageddon” but this weekend’s “Century Crunch” road closure near one of the main entrances to Los Angeles International Airport might be the worst one yet, officials said Monday.

Starting Friday night, the intersection of Century and Aviation boulevards will be closed for 57 hours to allow crews to demolish an old railroad bridge and begin construction of a new Metro station.

The closure is expected to last from 9 p.m. Friday, until 6 a.m. Monday. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti last week released a video urging people to use public transit and avoid driving in the area.

After this weekend’s work, one lane in each direction will be closed on Century Boulevard for up to 16 months to allow for construction of the station on the 8.5-mile Crenshaw light rail line.

The work required to remove the bridge this weekend “is not a lot but it’s enough to screw everything up,” said Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokeswoman Kim Upton during a tour of the site Monday.

Passengers are being urged to take public transit to the airport and to budget extra time in case of traffic congestion.

One-third of the nearly 80,000 vehicles that enter the LAX terminal area on a daily basis use Century Boulevard, said LAX spokeswoman Amanda Parsons.

LAX officials said they expect more than 200,000 passengers a day to pass through the airport this weekend on more than 1,700 flights. That is in addition to the 20,000 airport employees scheduled to work each day.

Four excavators carrying high-compression chisels have already started to pound away at the bridge’s approach.

“It is one of the first big pieces of the project,” said MTA project director Charles Beauvoir. “It is always good to see progress, we have been on paper for a while.”

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