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Fans of Carmageddon are going to have to wait a little longer for the sequel.
Officials initially hoped to shut down a segment of the San Diego (405) Freeway next month, but delays to the $1 billion project are pushing the massive closure back to August or September.
Unexpected utility work, a $300 million lawsuit and bickering with FBI representatives over security clearances are all delaying completion, Metro officials said Thursday.
The project, which will add a 10-mile northbound car-pool lane to the 405 Freeway between the Santa Monica (10) and Ventura (101) freeways is now four to six months behind schedule.
"It's a very challenging project," Metro project manager Mike Barbour said. "It goes through a very difficult area . . . you have many very active groups in this area."
Last summer's Carmageddon event was widely hailed as a success as Metro officials closed a section of the 405 Freeway over a July weekend without any major incidents.
The shutdown was necessary so crews could dismantle the south side of the Mulholland Drive Bridge, which needs to be widened to accommodate the extra car lane below.
Many residents welcomed the chance to ditch their cars, but it also caused havoc for commuters trying to cross the city.
Metro officials warned Angelenos to prepare for another Carmageddon in 11 months.
But a tentative June date for Carmageddon II - to dismantle the north side of the Mulholland
Some of those issues surfaced last week at a Metro committee meeting, when two board members - L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar and county Supervisor Gloria Molina - sought answers on the timeline to the entire 405 Freeway widening project and questioned growing costs.
Molina chastised construction managers as they sought another $16 million for the project, and she called for more oversight.
"Every other month you come in here with a modification," Molina said. "This is what happened with the Red Line. Everything is being piecemealed."
"Somewhere in here, something is failing," Molina added, before reluctantly voting for the additional $16 million.
Construction started about three years ago on the project to make a continuous northbound car-pool link from the Valley to Orange County. A southbound car-pool lane already exists.
While locals have had to contend with snarled traffic and increased commute times, Metro has also faced hurdles, Barbour said.
Workers have encountered dozens of unexpected utility lines that need to be removed or relocated from the area, he said. Retaining walls must be rebuilt because of manufacturing defects.
Additionally, a $300 million lawsuit - filed last year by a Bel Air landowner - forced Metro to move a freeway on-ramp near the Getty Museum 150 feet to the west.
The lawsuit, which claimed a planned, nearby golf course would be negatively impacted by the widening, was dismissed last month, it but still necessitated the construction changes.
And then there's the FBI. The agency works out of a building at 1100 Wilshire Boulevard, near the construction site. Government officials are demanding Metro workers go through security clearance before working on the sensitive FBI lines.
"You can imagine the FBI has some pretty stringent regulations," said Barbour, who
An FBI spokeswoman declined comment.
Barbour believes that construction crews can make up for some of the delays, and predicted an August 2013 finish date for the entire 405 Freeway widening project - about three months later than the original completion date.
So far, the unexpected costs are covered by the project's contingency fund. But if the widening is further delayed, there could be some cost overruns, Barbour said.
Spokesman Dave Sotero said Metro could make an announcement about a late summer Carmageddon event as soon as this week, but he declined to name a specific date for the closure. He pointed out that locals were only given six weeks notice for last summer's freeway shutdown.
But he acknowledged the impact will be more significant if the date is pushed to late summer when schools, including UCLA, will be back in session.
But the lack of a firm date for Carmageddon II angers Laurie Kelson, chairwoman of the Traffic and Transportation Committee of the Encino Neighborhood Council.
"Some people have a life. They have weddings, bar mitzvahs, they want to travel," Kelson said. "It's just terribly inconvenient."
At the Skirball Cultural Center - where a wedding had to be hastily rescheduled last summer because of Carmageddon - there have been a handful of calls about the date of Carmageddon II from callers seeking to book events.
Skirball communications director Mia Carino said the center is booking events despite the lack of information about Carmageddon II.
"We're not concerned," she said. "The whole city is facing this and we're part of the city."
UPDATE: This story has been updated. An earlier version of the story stated the FBI didn't return calls. In fact, they declined to comment.
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