Carmageddon in Los Angeles: The closure of the 405
L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa and City Councilman Tom LaBonge join officials and media as they wave to the first motorists to travel under the Mulholland Drive bridge after the reopening of the 405 Freeway. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Escorted by the California Highway Patrol, the first cars head southbound under the Mulholland Drive bridge. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appears with other officials at a venue overlooking the work site to announce that the 405 Freeway will reopen about 17 hours early. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A worker removes debris that could fall on the freeway below as crews finish clean-up and inspection. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Crews clean dirt and debris from the 405 Freeway after the demolition project on the Mulholland Drive bridge is completed. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
With the power of three battering rams, the western pillar of the bridge is knocked down. (Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times)
Demolition work on the Mulholland Drive bridge continues in the early morning hours Sunday. (Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view of the empty 405 freeway as construction continues on the Mulholland bridge. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
People clad in CalTrans orange spell out 405 in a park near the Mulholland bridge. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A ten mile portion of the The 405 freeway remains closed while work continues on the demolition of the Mulholland Bridge. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
About noon Saturday, demolition of the Mulholland Drive bridge continues. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Shiho Nakaza holds a sketch she made of the 405 Freeway at the Sunset Boulevard bridge. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Rod Liber holds daughter Samantha, 3, as Ava Liber covers her eyes at the Sunset Boulevard bridge over the 405 on Saturday. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Members of the media tour a section of the closed portion of the 405 Freeway. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The view looking south from the 17th floor of the Angeleno Hotel at Sunset Boulevard shows a deserted stretch of the 405 freeway along part of the closure area. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
LAPD officer Jason Azpeitia takes a picture with his cellphone of the deserted 405 Freeway looking north from the Sunset Boulevard bridge. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The 405 Freeway as seen from the 17th floor of the Angeleno Hotel at Sunset Boulevard. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The view south of an empty 405 Freeway on Saturday as workers remove part of the Mulholland Drive bridge. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Bel Air resident Noreen Shortway has her picture taken by a friend on the Sunset Boulevard bridge with the deserted 405 freeway behind her. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Just after midnight, work begins to raze the southern section of the Mulholland Drive bridge over the Freeway 405 Saturday morning. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
A construction crew member walks on a blanket of dirt spread over the 405 Freeway. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Dirt is spread under the bridge to protect the 405 Freeway from falling debris. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Damir Loretic a photojournalist with CNN, starts setting up Friday morning near the Mulholland Drive bridge. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
A crew closes the Skirball Center Drive onramp to the northbound 405 Freeway in preparation for the Mulholland Drive bridge work. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Pedestrians cross Sherman Oaks Avenue minutes after the 405 onramp was closed at 7 p.m. Friday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Ralph Lopez greets guests for a KFI radio event hosted by Tim Conway Jr. celebrating “Carmageddon” at the Sherman Oaks Marriott Courtyard hotel, near the 405 and 101 freeways. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Daniel Rojo, right, and Felix Jaquez man the registration table for a KFI radio event near the 405 and 101 freeways. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Rodney Brown, 47, of Silver Lake plays freeway closure music, “Much Hoo-Doo About Nothing,” at the closed Skirball Center Drive onramp on Friday evening. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Traffic control personnel block the southbound 405 onramp at Ventura Boulevard and Sherman Oaks Avenue on Friday evening. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Kenny Stephens of Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. carries a bundle of fencing material as workers prepare the southern half of Mulholland Drive bridge for overnight demolition work. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Adam Kessel, left, and Glen Greenberg hawk “Carmaggedon 405” T-shirts for $10 apiece at the corner of Ventura and Van Nuys boulevards. A dollar from each sale is to be donated to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Actor David Caruso buys five “Carmaggedon 405” T-shirts at the corner of Ventura and Van Nuys boulevards. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
