As the latest tactic in Metro’s ongoing public outreach campaign for “Carmageddon II,” the agency has produced a new Public Service Announcement featuring Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that is now available for public use.

Available in English and Spanish, the video PSA asks for the public’s cooperation to stay off local roads and freeways to avoid congestion impacts during the second 10-mile I-405 freeway closure between the I-10 and U.S. 101 the weekend of Sept. 29-30, 2012.

Angelenos are encouraged to instead enjoy a car-free weekend. “We did this last year and the traffic predictions were dire. But Angelenos rose to the occasion.  People stayed home, discovered their neighborhoods, rode their bikes, took a walk and took public transit.  We turned Carmageddon into Carmaheaven! I know we can do it again this year,” Mayor Villaraigosa says in the PSA.

Metro and its partner agencies have changed their appeal this year to encourage the public to “eat, shop and play locally.” Businesses, restaurants, cultural and entertainment venues are encouraged to again offer “Carmageddon” specials to lure new customers by foot, bicycle and public transit that weekend.

New this year are almost 13 miles of additional Metro transit service within the Westside and San Fernando Valley. The 8.6-mile Expo Line and the four-mile extension of the Metro Orange Line to Chatsworth (plus their adjacent bikeways) opened earlier this year.

The Youtube video can be utilized freely by interested businesses, public agencies and community stakeholders to raise public awareness about the planned 53-hour closure of the I-405 needed for the final demolition of the Mulholland Bridge in the Sepulveda Pass as part of the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project.