Carmaggedon ended earlier than expected on Sunday when crews finished the planned $3 million construction plan that shut down the famed Interstate 405 for the whole weekend. The Los Angeles Times reports that traffic started flowing around lunchtime Sunday, hours ahead of schedule. The 405 was closed Friday for the demolition of the southbound half of the Mulholland Drive bridge that spans the length of the interstate, and wasn't expected to reopen until Sunday evening. The city of Los Angeles has been preparing for the closure all week, anticipating huge traffic jams in surrounding areas. The interstate, according to the Times, "carries roughly 500,000 vehicles on a normal July weekend." However, things weren't all that bad. The highway will be closed 11 months from now to tear down the other half of the Mulholland Drive bridge. So Carmageddon will come again, like how the rapture happened in May, and will again in October. Pictures from this weekend's carpocalypse show the horror of the open road. 

Crews prepare to bring the bridge down on Friday night. 

And then on Saturday everything came crumbling down. 

Scenes of the road are a taken straight from every commuter's dreamscape. 

Heavy trucks work to clear debris from the bridge that came falling down.

One last check for debris Sunday morning before letting cars back onto the road. 

And off they went. Some of the first cars driving on the highway Sunday afternoon. Construction crews had incentives worked into their contract if they finished the job early. They were facing $6,000 fines for every ten minutes over the time allotted for completion. 

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at connorbsimpson at gmail dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.