

405 freeway (Photo by morgan.arnold via the LAist Featured Photos pool)

After five years of construction, and not one, but two Carmageddons, the 405 Freeway's carpool lane that spans a 10-mile stretch, is set to open on May 23.

Angelenos suffered through some pretty heinous construction traffic over the past few years by the Sepulveda Pass, but now can breathe a sigh of relief that a shiny new carpool lane (that cost over $1 billion to build) will be completed in time for the Memorial Day weekend, according to Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's website.

"People in this part of town have put up with a lot, and it’s finally time for the public to begin experiencing one of the major benefits of this project," said Yaroslavsky.

If you're wondering what exactly changed on the 405, we have a primer for you. The 10-mile carpool lane was added on the northbound 405 between the 10 and 101 Freeways, relieving some of the busiest traffic through the Sepulveda Pass that links the San Fernando Valley and the Westside. In addition, three major bridges over the freeway—Skirball Center Dr., Sunset Bl. and Mulholland Dr.—were rebuilt, including safer flyover ramps at Wilshire Boulevard. Underpasses and structures were widened as well.

However, not everything is completed yet. There's still some landscaping to be done. Also, Metro may be considering converting the 405 carpool lane into a toll road, so let's not get too excited just yet.

Although we'll miss all the fun, pun-filled names that were created to help us laugh off the traffic, including "Jamzilla" and "the Rampture," we won't be missing that hellish traffic.