Next weekend, a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 405, usually jam-packed with over half a million cars on weekends, will close for repairs by California road crews. The highway shuts down after Friday’s rush hour and plans to reopen early Monday at 5 a.m. This mirrors a two-day construction project from last year aimed at improving the highway to meet standards and making it better for all travelers. Last time, hundreds of thousands of drivers found other routes or skipped driving altogether to help keep the highway traffic-free.

State officials are hoping the positive situation repeats itself this year and have been bombarding the region with public service messages reminding drivers of the forthcoming closures. They are also reminding drivers that putting up with the work means having a much improved section of highway when the work is completed.

When all the work in the area is completed toward the end of next year, there will be a new, wider and seismically safer bridge crossing the freeway at the city’s scenic Mulholland Drive.

The 405 itself will also be wider, making room for a carpool lane through the Sepulveda Pass over the Santa Monica Mountains, where traffic notoriously clogs almost all the time….

California transportation officials say what they would like to see next weekend here is a rerun of last year’s two-day closure, when hundreds of thousands of motorists dodged doomsday predictions by staying away until the busy 10-mile stretch of Interstate 405 reopened. It was one of the lightest freeway traffic weekends anyone in Los Angeles could remember.

If you live in California and can avoid using the 405 this coming weekend it might be the best move. Construction is going to happen on roads and bridges whether you like it or not. But you don’t have to punish yourself because of it. Stay home, read a book or find some other direction to travel. Come Monday morning, you’ll be glad you did.