Those who use and/or rely on paratransit services should read the following news release from Access — paratransit vehicles will not have any special access this weekend due to the 405 closure and customers should expect delays:
ACCESS ASKS PARATRANSIT RIDERS TO PREPARE FOR I-405 CLOSURE WEEKEND OF JULY 15-17
Access Services, Los Angeles County’s second-largest transit agency which serves 2.7 million customers each year, is asking all of its riders to prepare for long delays along the I-405 corridor for the scheduled closure the weekend of July 15-17. On- and off-ramps to and from I-405 will begin closing as early as 7pm on Friday, July 15, and the entire freeway will be closed both northbound between the I-10 and U.S. 101 Freeways, and southbound between the U.S. 101 and Getty Center Drive until 5am Monday, July 18.
“Access is delivering exactly the same message as Metro to all of our riders: Plan ahead, avoid the area, or stay home,” said Shelly Verrinder, Executive Director of Access. “Access vehicles will not have any travel priority in the impacted area, so it’s important that riders prepare for what could be very long delays. Riders should make sure they have adequate supplies of food, water, medicine, or medical testing equipment on their person each time they board an Access vehicle.”
Access will have a special command center set up at its headquarters to assist Access vehicles with re-routing and alternate routes around impacted areas. Access riders are encouraged to call Access’ Customer Care Center at (800) 827-0829 to receive service updates and anticipated time delays during the freeway closure.
Access will continue to provide regular service to its 108,389 eligible riders throughout Los Angeles County over the course of the weekend.
For additional information about the freeway closure, please visit http://www.metro.net/projects/I-405/, and for additional information about Access, please visit www.asila.org.
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About Access:
Access, a local public entity, administers the Los Angeles County Coordinated Paratransit Plan on behalf of the County’s 43 public bus and rail operators. Our service is available for any Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit-eligible individual for any purpose and to or from any location within ¾ of a mile of any fixed-route bus operated by the Los Angeles County public fixed-route bus operators and within ¾ of a mile around METRO Rail stations during the hours that the systems are operational. The service area is divided into regions and extends into portions of the surrounding counties of San Bernardino, Orange and Ventura that are served by Los Angeles County fixed-route bus lines.
Access operates seven days a week, 24 hours a day in most areas of Los Angeles County. It is a shared ride, curb-to-curb service and utilizes fleet of small buses, mini-vans and taxis. For more information about Access, please call (800) 827-0829 or visit www.asila.org
Categories: Service Alerts
Kevin: How vital is the class and how much are you willing to pay to avoid “Carmageddon”? Vital enough to get down to Culver City Friday afternoon and stay overnight in a hotel? If not, staying home sounds like a great option. Since you don’t indicate a going-home issue, if you go to class you can probably take a Metro or Culver City bus east, and then work your way back home with the Silver or Blue Line to the Red Line and the Orange Line.
I got class here in Culver City on Saturday morning. Will I be able to catch a bus at 6AM and get to class by 8AM and still rely on the METRO bus system throughout the day or should I just cancel stay home or make other plans. I live in the San Fernando Valley area.
Kevin,
It’s hard to predict how bad delays might be, because it all depends on how many people stay home and avoid traveling in the area. Metro is telling its patrons to avoid traveling through the Sepulveda Pass if possible, and to expect serious delays coming over from the Valley if they have no choice but to travel. If you have the flexibility to cancel, I think you might save yourself a lot of stress by doing so. But that’s just my hunch; good luck!
Carter Rubin
Contributor, The Source