ROADHOUSE BLUES UNIQUE MOVING PROJECT TURNED OUT NOT TO BE A DO-IT-YOURSELF SNAP AFTER ALL.Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer It's the ultimate freeway debris. For five days, Patrick Richardson's home has sat on the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. , causing thousands of motorists to rubberneck at the sight of the abandoned, green ranch-style house Ranch-style houses (also American Ranch or California Ranch) is an uniquely American domestic architectural style. First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular in the United States during the 1940s to 1970s, as new suburbs were built for the on the shoulder. And as each day goes by, its splintered roof sags a little more. And elated taggers apply fresh coats of black graffiti to the new northbound-freeway fixture near the Universal Studio exit. But there's no sign of Richardson, who decided to move his house on his own from Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. to Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, with a truck and trailer that broke down over and over along the way in an extreme moving nightmare Saturday that tied up traffic for eight hours. Patrick, please pick up your house. "Just pay someone to move it, man," said Justin Pearson Justin Pearson is a vocalist/bassist for several West Coast punk rock and noise rock bands, some of which include The Locust, Some Girls, and Head Wound City. He is also owner and operator of Three One G Records. , a 28-year-old who works at a Studio City garden shop and sees the spectacle grow worse by the day. "Come on. What's he going to do with it now?" It wasn't supposed to happen like this. The 45-year-old Castaic man did get a permit from Caltrans to move the oversized o·ver·size n. 1. A size that is larger than usual. 2. An oversize article or object. adj. o·ver·size also o·ver·sized Larger in size than usual or necessary. load up to rural Placerita Canyon. But instead of following the authorized route -- from the Santa Monica Freeway The Santa Monica Freeway is the westernmost segment of Interstate 10, beginning at the western terminus of I-10 at the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California and ending southeast of downtown Los Angeles at the famous East Los Angeles Interchange. to the San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405, and the part of Interstate 5 south of the El Toro Y[1]) is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major beltway of I-5 running through Southern California. north and eventually to the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. -- Richardson took a detour, maybe to avoid the climb over the Sepulveda Pass. Around the 10 and 110 freeways, the wheels on his vehicle started falling off, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jason McCutcheon. "They came off one by one during the travel," said McCutcheon. "It was pretty ugly." Concerned passers-by called authorities, who caught up with Richardson making roadside repairs on the Hollywood Freeway near Silver Lake. Raring rar·ing also rar·in' adj. Informal Full of eagerness; enthusiastic. [Present participle of dialectal rare, to rear, variant of rear2. to keep going, Richardson jumped behind the wheel and pulled the house again, only to hear its roof smack into the Western Avenue overpass. By the time he reached the Hollywood Boulevard exit, the trailer became disabled. But he kept driving, finally pulling over around Barham Boulevard, where there is more shoulder room, McCutcheon said. Meanwhile, all northbound traffic on the Ventura Freeway was jammed, causing cars to flee the gridlock Gridlock A government, business or institution's inability to function at a normal level due either to complex or conflicting procedures within the administrative framework or to impending change in the business. and pour onto side streets that clogged up all afternoon with the heavy overflow. Stuck in that traffic tie-up on her way to work at a Ventura Boulevard gift shop, Glenda Sosa of Echo Park assumed at first that the bottleneck stemmed from a bad crash. Instead of a smash-up with cars, she saw one wreck of a house on the road. "This was my first time to ever see a house left on the freeway," said the 29-year-old woman. "I hope he learns from his mistakes." Authorities then towed the house to the roomy freeway shoulder, where it'll sit surrounded by orange Caltrans cones until Richardson gets it safely moved again. Who knows how long that'll be? "It's in bad shape. There is no hard-and-fast rule about how long a house can sit on the side of the freeway," said Maria Raptis, Caltrans spokeswoman. "It will stay there until it can be moved safely." Richardson, who could not be reached for comment, has not received a ticket for the freeway debacle. But the ramshackle house has caused quite a stir with nearby residents. Damien McCleary of Sherman Oaks has seen tagger tag·ger n. 1. One that tags, especially the pursuer in the game of tag. 2. taggers Very thin sheet iron, usually plated with tin. Noun 1. scrawl cover more and more of the house each day. He said it should move to a safer place. "You can't leave your house on the side of the freeway when there's a graffiti war going on," said McCleary. "That's the worst place for it." At the Good Neighbor Restaurant, some are wondering how much it would cost to move and destroy it, said owner Rick Nowinski. "It looks like a good house," said Nowinski. "It's just a shame it had to go through that." sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3746 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Cars on the 101 Freeway zoom past Patrick Richardson's house, which sits where its trailer broke down Saturday. (2 -- color) Patrick Richardson's house is still sitting alongside the 101 Freeway, where its trailer broke down Saturday. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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