Quote:
Originally Posted by Tourmaline
The date is more likely 1984, given all of the '84 Olympics banners.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
At the time everyone was extremely worried about traffic gridlock during the Olympics
and when it finally arrived the streets were nearly empty.
Does anyone else have that memory....or did I dream that up?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tovangar2
No, you didn't dream it up. LOL, another bunch of hysteria that fizzled.
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People
were concerned about gridlock, but there was also planning and happenstance that occurred so that it wasn't a problem. Businesses were asked to stagger their hours, for one thing, and many did during the Olympics. People came in early or worked later. Businesses also asked delivery companies to deliver late at night or even during the night for two weeks, and they did.
The happenstance occurring was that there was a thought that because the Olympics were here, the surrounding entertainment venues would be jam packed with tourists. That did not happen because people came to see the Olympics and the rest of the tourist business pretty much vanished for two weeks. Also, many people who thought the traffic would be a nightmare and weren't interested in any of this actually left town. Plus, the Olympic organizers had plans in place to shuttle people to the venues they wanted to be at, and people used them (!) and they worked really well.
There was a wonderful spirit in the city of Los Angeles that summer and it was great to be here then.
1984 L.A. Olympic Traffic Miracle
Article
HERE.
Ian Dryden / Los Angeles Times
(Caption) Aug. 3, 1984: Traffic is light on the Harbor Freeway, left photo, next to the Los Angeles Coliseum
at 8:03 a.m. on a Friday morning — right in the middle of rush hour. Light traffic was also found downtown,
right, at 8:40 a.m. on the four-level freeway interchange.
From the article:
"Years of warnings and intense preparations apparently paid off Friday as a predicted paralyzing combination of Olympic and commuter traffic failed to develop on the busiest day yet of the Games. Instead, drivers enjoyed another day of free-flowing freeway traffic across Southern California. The driving public had apparently listened to the traffic congestion warnings and predictions. And the locals were not the only ones who noticed."
Of course, up on Hollywood Blvd. it was a different story:
Don Cormier / Los Angeles Times
Just kidding! This photo was previously posted on NLA here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=16585
But is missing there now.
The photo is from the filming of the 1970 film
Alex in Wonderland.
It is dated May 24, 1970, and the article link says it was on the front
page of the Los Angeles Times the next day.