Anyone living in the Southern Californian area, especially the Valley and the Westside will be affected by this news:

Major Construction Work to Begin on I-405 Sepulveda Pass Widening Project • Reconstruction of Sunset Bridge First Major Construction Milestone marking the first major construction deliverable for the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Widening Project, contractors are poised to begin preparation work for the future demolition and reconstruction of the Sunset Bridge in West Los Angeles.

Starting Friday, May 7, workers will reconfigure traffic lanes and signals on the Sunset Bridge. Lane reconfiguration work will be conducted at night between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. and is scheduled for completion the morning of Monday, May 10. At this time the Sunset Bridge will be narrowed from three lanes in each direction to two lanes in each direction to enable the contractor to prepare the bridge for demolition. Concrete barriers will be placed on the bridge to separate the work zone from traffic. The contractor also will secure and protect existing utilities within the bridge, remove internal form work, perform a bridge inspection, remove area vegetation and create a staging area for construction equipment.

The demolition schedule will be dependent on what the contractor encounters during preparation activities. Demolition could begin as early as the end of May. However, if bridge conditions require additional preparation work, demolition will be scheduled in June. Sunset Bridge demolition and reconstruction will be conducted in two separate phases. The southern side of the bridge will be demolished first. That will be followed by approximately 10 months of south side bridge reconstruction. Upon completion of the south side of the bridge, the northern side of the bridge will be demolished and rebuilt in the same manner.

While the bridge will be closed during demolition, it will be opened to traffic during reconstruction. During reconstruction, there may be nights when traffic is restricted. Notification of these traffic restrictions will be provided in advance.

Twenty months of reconstruction are scheduled, during which restricted traffic may "flow" across the Sunset bridge.  However, there is no "published" estimate of how long the demolition phase(s) will take. during which the bridge will be closed, blocking one of the Westside's most traveled arteries indefinitely.

And that's just the first bridge to be demolished and reconstructed.  Stay tuned, there's more...