I think the fine folks who are planning for the two year shutdown of Business 40 in Winston-Salem for repairs might want to watch how the folks in California are preparing for their own Carmageddon this weekend.

Los Angeles, home of notorious traffic jams, is preparing for a potential doozy. People are calling this weekend’s closure of 10 miles of the 405 “Carmageddon.” What’s happening is 10 miles of the very busy highway will be shut down to traffic as part of a reconstruction project. The big question is whether the work will result in massive traffic jams or if the impact won’t be that great because it’s a weekend project.

We’re seeing some examples of social media in action in preparation for Carmageddon. KABC is teaming up with the traffic app company Waze to offer an app that is powered by the audience. It detects your speed as you drive and keep the app open. Utilizing that information, Waze generates a map showing traffic. After your ride you can report what you saw along the way (typing is disabled while you’re driving).