Carmageddon 2 los angeles upgrade#
Carmageddon 2 los angeles series#

The whole thing was overhyped from the start Carmageddon turned out to be a. (When I thought of a cyclist racing a jet, I admittedly wasn’t even aware one could take mass transit between BUR and LGB). Los Angeles so-called weekend of Carmageddon was impressive. Gary Kavanagh *, who had reacted enthusiastically to my initial daydreaming about a “Tour de Carmageddon,” was the day’s dark horse, revealing the secret efficacy-and perhaps, for some remote Twitter spectators, the existence-of Los Angeles’ oft-derided subway system. To take one common complaint, the idea of showering at work after a cycle ride is somehow seen as prohibitive, but the idea of showering after running on an indoor treadmill in a gym that one has driven to is seen, rather frighteningly, as normal.īut the race today wasn’t only about the cyclists. It’s true, of course, that for years American cities have had atrocious infrastructure for things like cycling, and are built with more sprawling development patterns than European cities, but the reasons people give for not cycling in America are often as much failures of the imagination, or a priori rationalization, as anything else. In the face of this fanciful idea ( a traffic-busting flight!) it became possible to demonstrate that cycling, often taken as a non-serious or marginal or even annoying (to some drivers) form of transportation in the United States, could seem eminently reasonable: not only the cheapest form of transportation, not merely the one with the smallest carbon footprint, not only the one most beneficial to the health of its user, but the fastest.

(As noted, wryly, “ #flightvsbike race is already making me reconsider using my jet plane for errands within a 40-mile radius!).īut the moment of folly seemed to provide an aperture for new thinking. There was a certain mix of ludicrousness and PR genius in Jet Blue’s move to airlift people over the 405-closure madness (which, thanks to the doomsday pronouncements of CALTRANS and other agencies, and a sudden bout of Southern Californian common sense, was underwhelming), but it’s not as if anyone saw the flight as a reasonable long-term option.

On the face of it, one shouldn’t make too much of the Tour de Carmageddon. pilot said he was not worried.” As the cyclists hit Downey, it was becoming apparent it was less a question of whether the cyclists would win, but by how much after an hour or so, the drama quickly shifted from #flightvsbike to #flightvsmetro, and then, simply, #bikesvsmetro. Still, on the plane, optimism ruled as Horne told me in a Tweet, “Jetblue exec b4 flight said that flight time would b 22mins but pilots would try to do it in 14. by the time Team Jet Blue was arriving at Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport. By Twitter accounts, and the occasionally spotty GPS hosted over at Streetsblog LA, the team was virtually in downtown L.A. Not that it would have made much difference (although a smoother cab ride might have allowed the aviators to beat that pesky Rollerblader). Lost cabdriver? A late Tweet by the Jet Blue flyers, and elaborated: “Our cabdriver didn’t know what a lighthouse was, and was too blind to see the map on my phone.” And in a setting like a funeral, it is crucial to not be delayed by traffic.According to Twitter-based calculations by the unofficial finish times were:īike: 1:34 Metro/Walk: 1:44 Rollerblades: 2:40 Plane/Lost Cabdriver: 2:54 Gomez added that her customers expect their flower deliveries to be on time. Neighborhood Unity One Chord At Time: Welcome To The Hermon Park Community Band. Leading up to the weekend of the highway shutdown, people feared the traffic nightmares that were about to take place. In July of 2011, Los Angeles closed a 10-mile stretch of the 405 Freeway for 36 hours in order to do roadwork. Uplands Plane Problem: Why Small Aircrafts Are Accident-Prone. Carmageddon II: Braess’s Paradox Gives LA Hope. 'Oh my gosh, it was awful,' said Sandra Gomez, a florist whose flower shop in Duarte sits just west of the closure. ‘Carmageddon 2’ accelerates plan for LA freeway improvements. The usually six lanes for cars headed east was split to three lanes heading in opposite directions.

Carmageddon 2 los angeles series#

The heavily trafficked freeway caused a series of detours through the area, including on the 210 Freeway itself, where traffic was directed from westbound lanes onto eastbound lanes.

The stretch of freeway was closed from Irwindale Avenue to the 605 Freeway connector.

Carmageddon 2 los angeles upgrade#

and was slated to remain that way for the next 126 hours as Caltrans crews upgrade the San Gabriel River Bridge by installing improved bridge hinges and railings, all while strengthening bridge decks. The closure started Wednesday evening at 11 p.m. 'I'm trying to avoid the congestion during the traffic hour, which is right now,' said cashier Tony Guzman. With major delays expected as a result of the five-day closure to the westbound 210 Freeway in Irwindale, Angelenos will be looking for any way to avoid what many are calling the second coming of Carmageddon.