710 freeway closure Thursday night

As noted earlier by my friends at LAist, parts of the 710 Freeway are going to be shut down Thursday night between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. for filming purposes. Caltrans says the closure is to accommodate a new television program on the CW network called "Valentine" and that there are no explosions involved.

What? No explosions? As my colleague Veronique de Turenne from our L.A. Now blog just wrote in an e-mail to me, "Who shuts down a freeway without blowing stuff up? That's un-American."

I am in complete agreement. When the "Matrix Reloaded" closed a freeway (that's a shot from the movie) at least things got wrecked.

As for "Valentine," here's an excerpt from the very long description of the show on the CW website:

Have you found your soul mate? Because, let's face it, these days it's not that easy. In a world where online dating shows millions of possibilities, they could walk right past you and you'd never know it. But thankfully, help is on the way. The gods of love are on the case. Turns out the Greek gods of myth and fable are alive and well ... and living among us in Mount Olympus, just off Hollywood's Laurel Canyon. From Executive Producer Kevin Murphy ("Desperate Housewives," "Reaper," "Ed") comes Valentine, a story about what a rare, strange, and often hilarious thing love is -- a gift that brings out the divine in all of us.

And later...

And the gods need all the help they can get. If you think your family is complicated, imagine being stuck with the same band of misfits for thousands of years! They may think they're above the petty squabbles of men and women, but they're worse than any of us. With all the rivalries, affairs, and schemes, it's a wonder that any work gets done. And just wait until their relatives start showing up!

One of the characters apparently has a secret gun that he shoots at people to make them fall temporarily in love. Gives new meaning to "I'm hit," I suppose.

Details of the closure? They're after the jump ...

-- Steve Hymon

Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon / Warner Bros. Pictures

LOS ANGELES -- The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announces the following closures on the Long Beach Freeway (I-710):

Thursday, August 21, 2008:

· 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

–

One lane of southbound I-710 from Valley Boulevard

to the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10)

· 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. - Full freeway closure on southbound I-710 from

Valley

Boulevard to I-10

· 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. - Intermittent traffic breaks on northbound I-710

from I-10 to Valley Boulevard

An encroachment permit has been issued by Caltrans for filming on this freeway.

Caltrans advises motorists to "Slow For The Cone Zone."

Comments

[The Real Zajac]

Folks, read the closure description very carefully, then pull out a map: the 710 STARTS at Valley and goes south for a mile before reaching the 10. Effectively, a single, if ridiculously long, onramp will be closed.

And the Matrix Reloaded freeway scene was filmed on a purpose built set (including a quarter mile of 6-lane freeway) on Alameda Island.

[Daniel OC]

i don't think matrix reloaded shut down ANY freeway. a few sites across the us were scouted -- but with the logistical challenge of filming 'daytime' sequences the creators opted to construct a fake freeway on alameda island in san francisco bay.

which leads to a more fruitful point: why is the 710 -- a busy freeway -- being shut down as early as 9pm? aren't our headaches enough without a needless closure? i hope the cost of the permits are high to warrant this early of a freeway shut down.