LOCAL : Sepulveda Tunnel Closure Ties Up 405, but Not as Much as Expected

Closure of the Sepulveda Boulevard tunnel for construction work resulted in an early-morning traffic tie-up on the southbound San Diego Freeway today, but officials said the situation was not as bad as they had feared.

“I haven’t seen any big problems,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Dave Grajeda. “I hope it stays this good.” Grajeda said that although there was more traffic than usual on the freeway, there were no major accidents--only slow-moving traffic.

Traffic-control officers on such alternate routes as Beverly Glen Boulevard and Coldwater Avenue said traffic on those thoroughfares was only slightly heavier than usual as a result of the tunnel closure.

On a typical weekday, an estimated 28,000 cars pass through the Sepulveda tunnel, which is one of the main links between the Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley, officials said. Repeated repaving inside the tunnel has raised the level of the road so much that the tops of big-rig trucks often scrape its sloping roof. The tunnel, which runs beneath Mulholland Drive, will be shut down until Sept. 30 while workers lower the pavement level.