Sepulveda Pass construction completion delayed until mid-2014

Detour signs and traffic delays will remain a familiar sight for UCLA commuters who frequent the 405 Freeway, due to a one-year delay on the completion of the construction project.

The plan, dubbed the Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, involves the reconstruction of the three bridges and the addition of a 10-mile stretch of carpool lane to the northbound lanes of the 405 Freeway, between the 10 and the 101 Freeways. The carpool lane will be along the primary exits nearest to Westwood and the UCLA campus: Sunset Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard and Montana Avenue.

Construction began in 2010 and was originally scheduled to end this spring. The plan is estimated to be completed by mid-2014 because of unexpected utility issues and increased costs, said Thomas Janssen, spokesman for Kiewit, the primary construction firm partnering with Los Angeles County Metro on the project.

Scheduling conflicts and construction issues have also contributed to a $100 million increase to the original $1 billion budget, said Dave Sotero, spokesman for Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The relocation of several underground water and electricity utility lines affected the area of the freeway closest to UCLA’s campus, near Montana Avenue. Sotero said the companies responsible for utilities would not allow construction workers to move the lines themselves, delaying construction until the lines were relocated.

Janssen said Kiewit Construction and Metro are working quickly toward the end and will continue to open sections of the freeway as they are completed. Recent openings include the Sunset bridge in September 2012, and an additional near-two miles of a freeway lane on May 24.

Over the past few years, the project has made the 405 Freeway synonymous with traffic delays. Construction on the 405 Freeway once caused UCLA alumna Monalisa Sanchez to miss a quiz for a class.

“It took me two hours to get off the exit at Sunset, and by the time I got to school I decided to just go home because I was so exhausted,” she said.

In July 2011 and September 2012, the demolition of the Mulholland bridge caused partial closures of the 405 Freeway. Commonly known as Carmageddon I and Carmageddon II, the closures shut down sections of one of the city’s main freeways for multiple days. Sotero said there are no plans for similar closures in the immediate future.

Experienced commuters try to plan ahead for traffic, but some construction projects cause longer detours than others.

Nathalie Orozco, a fifth-year history student, said much of her schedule depends on traffic on the 405 Freeway because she is never sure how construction may affect her drive.

“It seems like every other week a different off-ramp is closed. That alone drives me crazy,” Orozco said.

In order to avoid interfering with peak traffic hours, the majority of building activity on the freeway occurs between midnight and 5 a.m. on weekdays and anytime during the day on weekends, Sotero said.

However, some students said they have seen construction at odd times during the week. Sanchez said when she would leave campus late on Wednesdays, the closure of multiple freeway lanes and off-ramps made her trip home longer than needed.

“It’s so frustrating because by 9 p.m. there really (shouldn’t be) traffic, but they create it by closing down every single lane except for one,” she said.

Sotero said although Metro made a commitment to refrain from heavy construction during times that would impact residential communities around the freeway, it doesn’t always work out.

“We have never sugarcoated the impacts of construction,” Sotero said. “But the good news is the project is two-thirds complete and we have a definite course of action to conclude the project as quickly as we can.”