Northbound San Diego Freeway Lanes Closed

A five-hour closure of the northbound San Diego (405) Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass was under way this morning, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

The closure, the first of three consecutive morning shutdowns on a a 2.4- mile stretch of the northbound side of the freeway, was part of a 55-hour period of lane reductions and closures to accommodate carpool lane construction work, officials said.

Starting at 10 p.m. Friday, crews began reducing the northbound side of the freeway from five lanes to two between the Montana Avenue and Getty Center Drive offramps, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Monica Posada. The full closure went into effect as scheduled at 1 a.m., she said. It is due to end at 6 a.m.

All northbound lanes will be also be closed between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. Sunday and from midnight to 5 a.m. Monday, said Metro's Dave Sotero.

The northbound on-ramps at Getter Center Drive, Moraga Drive and Sunset Boulevard and the northbound Montana Avenue off-ramp will be closed through the weekend, according to Metro.

The reductions, ramp closures and full northbound lane closures will allow crews to realign lanes and pave the future carpool lane, which is also known as the high occupancy vehicle or HOV lane, Sotero said.

Crews will be shifting K-rails, grinding existing pavement, placing and compacting new pavement and striping lanes, he said.

"The HOV lane now under construction will ultimately extend 10 miles between the I-10 and U.S. 101 and complete the last remaining gap in the I-405 HOV lane network," Sotero said.

All northbound lanes and ramps will reopen by 5 a.m. Monday, he said.