Traffic Tie-Ups Lighter Than Expected on 1st Day of Sepulveda Tunnel Closure

Traffic tie-ups on the San Diego Freeway and major streets linking the Los Angeles Basin with the San Fernando Valley were lighter than expected Monday when the Sepulveda Boulevard tunnel was closed to begin a scheduled six-week construction project.

Closure of the tunnel where Sepulveda passes beneath Mulholland Drive forced diversion of traffic onto the parallel San Diego Freeway and onto other routes, but state and city traffic control officials said the resulting slowdown was not as bad as they had feared.

“I haven’t seen any big problems,” said California Highway Patrol spokesman Dave Grajeda. “I hope it stays this good.” Grajeda said there were no major accidents on the freeway, which helped keep traffic flowing.

Traffic control officers on Beverly Glen Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Avenue said traffic on those thoroughfares was only slightly heavier than usual. “We were expecting a big headache the whole week, getting people rerouted, but it hasn’t been that bad at all,” said one officer stationed on Coldwater Canyon Avenue.

However, some commuters complained about delays caused by the additional traffic on the San Diego Freeway. “It was really packed,” said Joe Bravo, 39, who drives into Sherman Oaks from Sylmar every day. “It was backed up all the way to Nordhoff.”

Renee Fossler, 33, said she was late for work at her job in Sherman Oaks on Monday because traffic on the Ventura Freeway was backed up as well. “It’s bad all the time,” she said, “but it was jammed today.”

Caltrans officials said an estimated 260,00 commuters use the San Diego Freeway each day.

Guy Quinn, assistant general manager of the city Department of Transportation, said he expects traffic to pick up speed in the next few days as drivers become more aware of traffic problems caused by the construction work on the tunnel.

On a typical weekday, an estimated 28,000 cars pass through the Sepulveda Boulevard tunnel, officials said.

Over the years, repaving inside the tunnel has raised the level of the road so high that the tops of large trucks sometimes scrape the roof, forcing them to drive in the center of the tunnel. The tunnel was shut down on Saturday as work began to reduce the height of the pavement. The tunnel is scheduled to be closed until Sept. 30.

“It was smooth today,” said Sgt. Daniel Rodman of the Highway Patrol’s Woodland Hills station. “But we never know what tomorrow holds.”