FIRST PHASE OF LAX’S SEPULVEDA TUNNEL REPAINTING REQUIRES WEEKEND LANE CLOSURES DURING PERIODS IN APRIL

(Los Angeles, CA – March 29, 2000) Motorists using the Sepulveda Tunnel adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) this weekend will see the first phase of its repainting take place as part of a major upgrade of the six-lane tunnel that includes its lengthening and the addition of several safety and aesthetic improvements.

The repainting will require the tunnel to be closed in one direction during two periods of three days each-- first in the northbound direction and then later in the southbound direction. Northbound closures will occur between midnight and 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, April 1 and 2; and between midnight and 5 a.m. Monday, April 3. The southbound closures will be between midnight and 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 8 and April 9, and between midnight and 5 a.m. on Monday, April 10.

Traffic will be detoured during these periods, with the tunnel remaining open in the direction opposite to the one where the work is taking place.

Crews will be repainting the tunnel’s 46-year-old ceilings and an upper portion of the walls so safety equipment can be installed. The remainder of the painting will be done at later date during the 18-month project. The repainting, using special graffiti-resistant paint, and upgrading and modernizing of the tunnel’s lighting will cost $4.6 million of the project’s total cost of $35 million.

Patricia Schnegg, Los Angeles Board of Airport of Commissioners vice president and commissioner who has closely followed the project, is pleased it is on schedule and that the repainting is beginning. "The Sepulveda Tunnel is a major entry to and exit from LAX. It is one of the first things millions of Southern Californians and tourists see of Los Angeles. We would like people to have a favorable view of how Los Angeles maintains its facilities."

The major part of the work on the tunnel that forms an air bridge over Sepulveda Boulevard is its lengthening by 165 feet on the northern side to extend its total length to 1,900 feet. When completed an airfield taxiway will be realigned to increase the distance separating aircraft taxiing along two east-west taxiways, just east of United Airlines’ Terminal 8. Aircraft using Taxiway C currently maneuver in a narrow corridor between another taxiway located alongside an active runway and a service road used by airport vehicles.