‘Rampture’ Is Just the Latest Front In My War With Lucifer

Taking On the Dark Lord Caltrans, One Miserable Surface Street At a Time

Whoever invents commuting monikers in Los Angeles seems to prefer religious themes. Pundits dubbed last year’s weekend-long closure of the 405 Freeway “Carmageddon.” They’ve named the closure of Wilshire Boulevard on- and off-ramps to the 405 the “Rampture.” As a commuter who drives more than 60 miles each workday from my home in Altadena to my office in Westwood, I favor a different religious-themed descriptor: hell.

I battle Caltrans (local-speak for the California Department of Transportation) each morning and evening. Caltrans and Kiewit, the contractor tasked with expanding the 405, are …