405 Nation's Busiest Freeway

Photos: Scenes from the 405 A section of I-405 from Seal Beach Boulevard to the 22 Freeway can get an estimated 379,000 vehicles in a single day, making it the busiest road in the nation, according to the Federal Highway Administration. 405 Freeway life can be a drag—and we don't mean 'drag race' !


In  my family two women who both have lived near the 405 Freeway won't drive on it. One has panic attacks each time she tries, and the other uses city streets, purposefully avoiding the most direct path offered by the freeway route. Both ladies fear the massive assault to the senses and required navigation upon entering the freeway, which can span 6 or more lanes in a single direction.

• Jokes abound about the road. Some say it is called the 405 because traffic moves at "four or five" miles per hour, or because drivers need "four or five" hours to get anywhere.
• The average speed can drop as low as 5 mph during morning and afternoon commutes.
• Several days ago the freeway was closed for 20 hours during the demolition of a bridge coined as the  Bridge Bash.
• Last month a plane crashed next to the 405 traffic lanes.
• Last year when the 405 closed for construction the event was called Carmageddon.
• OJ Simpson's famous 1994 car chase to escape arrest for the charge of murdering his wife took place on the 405.
• Bill Cosby's son, Ennis Cosby, was murdered in 1997 while changing a flat tire on the 405.
• Gin Blossoms released a song in 2010,  "Dead or Alive on the 405."