LA Embracing Technology for Survival of 'Carmageddon'

If you’re a Los Angeles citizen and have yet to tune into technology, you may be in for the biggest traffic jam of your life.

Starting Friday evening in the booming city, Interstate 405 will be shut down for a very long 53-hour road-widening project. To prepare its citizens for what media sources are calling a “Carmageddon,” the second most populated city in the U.S. will use trusty technology and social networking to get the word out.

According to Yahoo News, not only will electronic billboards warn LA and San Diego residents of massive delays, but Los Angeles has also called on several traffic and operations centers to manage the traffic flow. Caltrans, which manages LA’s freeways, will implement 400 cameras, vehicle-tracking sensors placed in the road and airborne CHP officers in an effort to keep traffic moving.

Not surprisingly, the celebrity population has played a major part in promoting awareness of the freeway shutdown. Over the last month, big-name celebs like Lady Gaga, Demi Moore, Ashton Kuchter and Kim Kardashian took to their Twitter (News - Alert) accounts to get the word out to their millions of followers.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles TV station has also partnered with traffic app company Waze to provide its community-based traffic and navigation app free to iPhone, BlackBerry (News - Alert) and Android users. In addition to identifying traffic jams, Waze tracks a user’s car speed with the device’s GPS. Users can also report events like hazards, accidents and police checkpoints, and upload photos to inform other Waze users of traffic jams.

What is sure to be most useful for the forthcoming interstate shutdown, Waze also provides alternative routes to take in the event of a road backup.

Text messages will also be sent out to AT&T (News - Alert) customers by the communications provider to inform them of the closure, while also recommending AT&T’s navigation app, AT&T Navigator, according to Mashable. 

Upon successful completion of the project, which will add carpool lanes and 18 miles of sound walls, Interstate 405 will re-open at 6 a.m. on Monday, July 18. According to Overdriveonline.com, metropolitan area drivers are advised to use alternative routes including 5, 15, 23, 55, 57, 101, 118, 126, 210, 605 and 710 freeways

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jamie Epstein