Surfing on the Wall, by Carlito_Brigante via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. In the wee hours of the morning, a cop driving west on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys crashed his patrol car into a tree in order to avoid a collision with another driver who was believed to have been under the influence. The suspected DUI driver allegedly was driving away from a bar, and got away after the cop's crash. A......

Good news for those who come into and leave Los Angeles everyday via the 5 freeway from the north county: those carpool lanes that have been under construction for a while are opening Friday. The lanes are a first for the 5 freeway in Los Angeles County and is part of a larger scheme to go carpool lane crazy in that part of town. Future lanes will connect the project to the 118 and 170......

Photo by Try Hank via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The "severely decomposed" body of an infant has been found in Santa Ana. An area resident saw a dog playing with something unusual, which turned out to be the baby, whose body has been taken to the Orange County coroner's office for an autopsy. Police may now be ruling yesterday's 101 freeway death a suicide, reports the Daily News. Initial reports intimated......

View Larger Map If you've noticed northbound Hollywood Way closed in Burbank between Riverside Drive and Alameda Avenue, get used to it -- it's scheduled to reopen in October. Caltrans tells the Burbank Leader that they advise commuters to use Pass and Verdugo Avenues in the interim. A new onramp is being built on the 134 freeway to help congestion flow on the busy artery near major studios and the Los Angeles city border in......

Photo by highervision via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr This evening a public viewing will be held for slain LA High football star Jamiel Shaw, with funeral services to follow tomorrow. Shaw's tragic murder has prompted many LA residents to refocus on the senselessness of gang-related violence. Go, stop, go, stop: Commuters northbound on the 57 and the 605 transitioning to the 210 westbound this morning were greeted by the new traffic......

Anyone who travels north via The 5 during holidays knows once you start hitting the northern part of the Santa Clarita Valley (a few minutes past Magic Mountain), traffic backs up, making it a slow hump over the Grapevine. Caltrans warns of why traffic will be additionally heavy these next thirteen holiday days:The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) advises motorists planning to travel on the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5) in north Los Angeles County......

Did you notice anything different on your commute through the Valley at the 405/101 interchange yesterday? Was it faster, smoother, safer or none of the above? In any case, it should have been after 2 years and $46-million. This is what they did: Widened the northbound freeway in the area to six lanes Added an onramp from Sepulveda Boulevard to the northbound 405 The Sepulveda onramps to the 101 freeway were reconfigured At yesterday's......

A water main break has closed the northbound and southbound lanes of Sepulveda at Century and is estimated to reopen at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning according to a press release just released by Caltrans:Los Angeles – The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announces that a Department of Water and Power (DWP) 36-inch water main break has caused the closure of northbound and southbound Sepulveda Boulevard at Century Boulevard in Los Angeles. Estimated duration of the......

2,000 DWP customers lost power today in Sun Valley. At noon, power was threatened to be cut from large energy consumers. But as the afternoon progressed, the Stage 2 was unlikely to happen. Yes, this is a heat wave. At age 18, having a DUI conviction, being a tagger and dealing in drugs is bound to get you caught up in murder charges in Van Nuys. A brush fire broke out in Castaic today......

Once while driving down the freeway from Santa Clarita into the LA over the Newhall Pass, I came upon a boat. No, not some truck pulling a boat. But a speed boat sitting in lane one (that's the furthest left lane). It obviously became detached from a vehicle. But where were they? There was no one pulled over looking distraught. DID THEY NOT NOTICE?!!? So I called 911 because that is what you are......

There's gunna be some more traffic for you 'der late night commuters and all... Why? To remove temporary structures at the Palms Avenue Bridge. Tonight and Wednesday 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Northbound 405 from Venice Boulevard to the 10 Thursday and Friday 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Southbound 405 from the I-10 connector to Venice Boulevard The Big Picture The closures are connected to the $167 million carpool lane project on 405 from the......

If you are travelling to or from or near Downtown tonight and tomorrow, avoid the hassle. Tonight All northbound lanes will be closed from Vignes to Alameda from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tomorrow Night All southbound lanes will be closed from Main to Vignes from 11:59 p.m. to 5 a.m. Why? A $24.1 million realignment project, which will also widen commercial streets and modify on- and off-ramps. Anticipated completion is summer 2007. Photo by......

- Sunday Morning Travel Alert: Caltrans will close the northbound San Diego Freeway (I-405) connectors to the east and westbound Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101), Sunday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. for maintenance work. -UK based Tesco will launch Fresh & Easy Neighbourhood Markets in Los Angeles stocking healthy, chilled food in 10,000 sq. ft. spaces. - The Parker Center, LAPD HQ, was evacuated today over a bomb scare. It was just a suitcase.......

It is Caltrans with no space or capital T. We know, it looks way cooler like CalTrans or some variation, but according to their website and press releases, they go by the boring-with-uppercase-letter Caltrans. It seems like all transit agencies have this dilemma. Metro wants to be called Metro, not MTA (the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority) [get nerdy and call it LACMTA]. But no one wants to let go of the acronym,......

Locked and lit, this pedestrian tunnel under the 101 Freeway sits at Allott St. in Sherman Oaks. It's been gated closed for more than 10 years now, yet the lights still go buzzzzzzzzzzz. Let's get those turned off. Maybe that will solve the budget problem. Duh!......

It's one of those annoying things you have to love about Los Angeles. Freeway directionals that confuse the hell out of newbies and out-of-towners alike. Your internet map directions say take the 110 South (or maybe West), yet the signs on freeway just say 110 Harbor or 110 Pasadena. Great, now the guy in front if us is slowing down because they are freaking out over which is what. In the Valley, many complain......

Get Involved is a new series of posts of pertinent local meetings where your surroundings might be affected. In that case, speak up! If you cause traffic to lessen traffic, does that make things equal? There's going to be some major construction over in the Westchester/LMU neighborhood over some major lane closures that may extend into the summer. The new project will widen lanes and sidewalks on Lincoln Boulevard in both directions, create four lanes......

What would get traffic moving faster at the Valley's busiest intersection of Ventura and Sepulveda (or shall we say the nation's busiest freeway intersection of the 101/405)? 1. Finishing 101/405 interchange construction for once and for all? 2. Limiting construction hours to 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., therefore extending construction by months. The LA Daily News reports that the delay of the Northbound 405 on-ramp at Greenleaf St. in Sherman Oaks (just south of Ventura......

If you have ever tried to travel the 405 or 5 northward the day before Thanksgiving, or southbound on the Sunday after, just walk -- it's faster. When you drive this weekend, you must think like life on a Hollywood set: hurry up and wait. Except CalTrans has adopted the didactic "leave early and anticipate delays" slogan. Here are some tips and facts for traveling this weekend: HAR (Highway Advisory Radio): When in LA,......

Year after year, holiday after holiday; we stare at I-5 near the Grapevine in astonishment. There are just certain days you just don't travel if you want to be efficient. It doesn't help when there is a lane closed either: The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) advises motorists traveling over the upcoming Veteran’s Day Weekend on the northbound Golden State Freeway (I-5) north of Santa Clarita near the “Grapevine,” to please plan ahead and......

You see these everyday. The little dashed lines that tell you the lane is going somewhere else. Well, those are called Elephant Tracks. Not officially, but that's the CalTrans lingo. The official term is somewhat pedantic: dashed white channelizing lines. According to CalTrans spokesperson, Jeanne Bonfilio, Elephant Tracks are there to communicate to you that your lane will be "channeling" off your current path onto an exit or an interchange. On city streets, these......

There's nothing new about crashing your car in LA. But this video taken on the 405 South last Spring in the Valley is a must see. CalTrans doesn't always close lanes that safely, but what's with these people? And how did this guy survive filming this? Embedding disabled by request, click on the picture to view.......

Last night was "about community. It's about you playing the role of the community-based policing component essential to keeping crime down," explains Mayor Villaraigosa. Best lede: "They're calling it 'Slaughterfest' and promising concertgoers will "bleed metal" at the Whittier Community Theatre later this month." NPR visits some local DMVs: Drivers license photographs are notoriously ugly, even for the beautiful people of Los Angeles. Producer Ayala Ben-Yehuda visited two Department of Motor Vehicles offices in......