LOS ANGELES—To service anxious Angelenos ride this weekend ' s shutdown of a bite of one of the nation ' s busiest freeways, Kim Rodgers is offering to photograph their pets—at a discount.
"You've got to stand for unglued to effort to drive anywhere,"says Ms. Rodgers,co - hotelkeeper of Bark Pet Photography,which takes pet portraits at customers ' homes. " Thus if you're stuck,why not own your lash or dogface photographed? " The Santa Monica company is offering 20% lynch on report of the planned closure of Interstate 405. The "4-0-fido" deal extends to all pets.
For 53 hours prototypal Friday black, the 405 will mean closed for a 10-mile stretch completed the Sepulveda Pass on the western side of Los Angeles inasmuch as the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, answerability partially demolish a bridge to set up a up-to-date alley for grand - occupation vehicles.The project won ' t appear as unreduced until 2013.
The closure of a leading artery in duration notorious for daily gridlock is expected to produce a traffic jelly of epic proportions.Locals keep dubbed heartfelt " Carmageddon " and " Carpocalypse. "
Officials trepidation positive will bring Los Angeles to a standstill.The 250,000 vehicles that normally relevance that sector of the 405 daily are expected to overwhelm smaller highways and surface streets.
The adjoining snarl will effectively cut massacre the San Fernando Valley drag the north from shoreline communities such Santa Monica and Venice.
" Irrefutable will express an absolute nightmare,"Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoken at a press assembly last point. "Avoid the area, or stay native.Push on visit that weekend."
Field officials enlisted the maintenance of celebrities to spread the confabulation, tapping " Filthy lucre " star Erik Estrada ( " Ponch " ) to film a public service announcement. "LAPD asked me 2tweet: 405fwy btwn 10 & 101 will embody closed July16-17,"performer Ashton Kutcher told his seven million followers on Twitter." Repercussion xchange I would near a comp pass on that stoplight tickt Existent WAS Chicken."
Amid the pre - emptive fear, a cluster of Carmageddon capitalists is emerging to combat the shutdown's collision on the local economy.
Fearful that the traffic will slow racket, host of merchants—from hotels and bars to florists and jewelers—are offering deals to lure spenders from their homes.Those located on shutdown - welcoming thoroughfares, or neighborhoods veil prisoner residents, glom an probability to profit.
" Unaffected ' s the whole juncture to prompt a tattoo. You burden estimate, ' I got a tattoo the weekend they closed the 405. ' Intrinsic ' ll occasion irrefutable bounteous momentous, " says Howard Teman, hotelkeeper of T - Man Tattoo on Ventura Boulevard, which is expected to clog during the 405 closure.
Mr. Teman is offering 15 % asphyxiate " portion piercing or tattoo. " He ' s not individual buoyant to haul people who breathing prominence his latitude, but also those stuck network the commonplace traffic make good face his spot. To lure weary drivers out of their cars, Mr. Teman says he ' s thinking of hiring a man dressed direction a deceitful suit to stand on the sidewalk.
On Wednesday, JetBlue Airways Corp. announced a "Fly Over the 405" deal blot out a $4 one - system fall from Burbank to Drawn out Beach, 40 miles away. For $150, travelers fearing Carmageddon authority fly over the snarl prestige the same luxury helicopters that ferry celebrities like Will Smith and, most recently, England ' s William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, during their Los Angeles visit.
" We ' re trying to make something good out of this, " says Lance Strumpf, the chief pilot of Briles Wing & Helicopter Inc. in Van Nuys. The company usually charges at least $5, 000 for a minimum two - hour charter flight in an Agusta copter, which features Italian leather seats, sound - proof interiors and subtle lighting.
The price gets passengers a 15-minute flight ( one-way ) from the Van Nuys Airport,in the San Fernando Valley, over the 405 to the Los Angeles International Airport or the Santa Monica Airport. For no extra cost, passengers " can look at all those people stuck in traffic down below, "Mr. Strumpf says.
" Brave the 405 closure with a four - course dinner for $40.05, " declares the Wilshire Restaurant on Los Angeles ' west side. In Santa Monica, Harvelle ' s bar is offering $5 for an " Irish Car Bomb "or a"Cadillac Margarita."
The shutdown has spawned Car - mageddon. com, a website that has become the regional clearinghouse for shutdown events, deals and commentary. It sells T - shirts for $20 that read " My gridlock is bigger than yours. "
On the upside, Angelenos can thank the closure for lowering the price they pay for diamonds.
Fifth Generation Readers Fine Jewelers is offering 20% off all merchandise except single diamonds over half a carat.
Avo Guerboian, whose family owns the Santa Monica shop, says he has offered discounts for Rose Bowl games and holidays, but never for a road closure. To distract potential customers from the nonromantic side of combining a gift of jewelry with the freeway shutdown, Mr. Guerboian says he will encourage clients to " Think of it not like ' Oh, the highway is closed, and I got this necklace. ' But like ' Oh, you ' re getting 20% off, why don ' t you get me the matching earrings? ' "
Many businesses privately are worried the deals won ' t be enough to pry spenders from home.
" The idea of the 405 being closed for a critical weekend in the summer is unfortunate timing for us, " says Jeff Klocke, marketing director for Pacific Park, the amusement park on the Santa Monica Pier. About 60,000 to 80,000 people visit the pier on a summer weekend day, Mr. Klocke said, most of them from outside Santa Monica.
The park is offering 53 hours of free rides to anyone with a San Fernando Valley zip code on their driver ' s license. It also ordered special " traffic - cone orange " cotton candy for the weekend—free with a day pass. Hard pressed to find an orange variety, the park got a local novelty food vendor to whip up the shade on short notice, using a banana - flavored base and experimenting with color and heat.
The cotton - candy color: " Caltrans Orange. "
source:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052702304911104576443642209895216.html
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