Fasten your seat belts, because traffic in Downtown L.A. might get worse than ever this summer. Metro officials just announced that one of the major corridors for traffic on and off of the 101 and 110 Freeways will be out of commission from June through November.
According to My News L.A., portions of Sixth Street will be closed to all traffic, as Metro gets to work digging out a trench that will eventually become the Downtown Connector light rail. Cars moving south on the 101 Freeway will be forced to detour to Fourth or Ninth Streets, bypassing Sixth entirely. If you’re going north on the 110, you’ll still have the option of a Sixth Street offramp, but the Fourth and Ninth Street exits might be better choices, because if you do opt for Sixth it won’t be taking you far. As soon as you hit Flower Street, just east of the freeway, you’ll find yourself diverted with a right turn. If you’re going east out of Downtown toward the 110, you’ll be spared any closures (at least for now).
While all efforts will be made to make things as smooth as possible for these five months, Sixth Street is kind of a big deal for DTLA commuters. Remember when the Sixth Street Viaduct demolition triggered closures back in 2016? Some people called it carmageddon—and that was only for 40 hours, not five months.
Nonetheless, keep in mind that there is a good reason for any hassle this may cause. When we come out the other side next autumn, the city will be closer to a train tunnel to connect the Gold Line to the Expo and Blue Lines, making it easier to get around without a car altogether.
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