This past weekend was an interesting one. The interstate by our apartment is one of the largest in Southern California and handles about 500,000 travelers a weekend. That's half-a-million, just in case you can't count all those zeroes. From Friday night to Monday the morning, 10 miles of this incredibly important interstate that connects northern LA to San Diego was scheduled to be closed while they tore down an overpass. "They" (I have no idea who "they" are) projected that there was going to be traffic jams backed up for 30 miles. If the construction lasted into early morning Monday rush hour, all hell might have broken loose.
So, expecting the worse, I biked to work Friday. It was a great ride, actually. I was able to take mostly back roads the whole way and I didn't feel like I was going to get run over by angry commuters. Mike got home early in the afternoon, and he and I parked our cars for the weekend, planning to only walk or bike where we needed to be.
Saturday I did errands on my bike and biked to the gym. We walked to the neighborhood bar Saturday night and to the market and yogurt shop on Sunday. And guess what? There was no one on the roads. Since they had been advertising the closing up to 50 miles away, everyone had the same idea to stay at home. It was quite amazing for a city that depends on motors.
They are planning on closing it again in a year (or maybe 6 months, I can't remember to be honest) to tear down the rest of the bridge. I hope the several millions in the city are smart enough to stay at home a second time.
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