Filming for ‘Brady Bunch’ Creates Traffic Crunch : Movie: Signs on Ventura Freeway warning of ‘gang war’ and ‘killer bees’ were movie props and weren’t suppose to be visible to traffic, Caltrans says.

Here’s the story of a jam named Brady.

Traffic on the westbound Ventura Freeway was tied up Tuesday afternoon after motorists were startled by glimpses of electronic signs, mounted on trucks in Caltrans fashion, that flashed warnings of “Killer Bee Gridlock” and a “Gang War Riot Ahead.”

But they were safe from both bugs and thugs.

The signs were props for an upcoming movie based on the “Brady Bunch” television series. Shooting wrapped up last week, but some extra footage of freeway traffic was needed for the movie’s opening scene, co-producer Jenno Topping said.

The signs were to be placed on the Van Nuys Boulevard on-ramp, out of sight of drivers above on the freeway, according to California Department of Transportation spokesman Russell Snyder. But somehow they were placed alongside the actual freeway in full view of motorists, who slowed down and gawked, creating a midday jam that snaked back for at least a mile.

“The signs were not supposed to be visible to mainline traffic,” Snyder said. “For whatever reason, that did not happen, so it was a mistake somewhere.”

But Topping said everything went “as planned” with Caltrans, except that the signs sparked a greater slowdown than expected.

“We didn’t want to disturb anybody’s day,” Topping said. “We didn’t want to back traffic up. It was just regular traffic that we wanted to catch (on film).”

The footage is for the opening scene of the film, in which the hyper-functional Brady clan is transplanted to the present but mentally is still living in the ‘70s (clothes included). In the opening scene, the movie’s villain drives along the freeway, indifferent to electronic warnings of supposedly commonplace catastrophes.

“Some of them are absurd but still possible,” Topping said of killer bee crossings and announced gang battles--ideas that came from a “joint effort” among those working on the Paramount Studios film, she said.

The movie is due out in February. The original series premiered in 1969, exactly 25 years ago this month.

Snyder said the film crew had a Caltrans permit to film between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

After traffic began to snarl because of the signs’ visibility, “we took immediate steps” to rectify the error, he said. The California Highway Patrol was on hand to help direct traffic.