Los Angeles (CNN) -- Los Angeles survived what officials warned could have been a traffic nightmare this weekend when a section of one of the nation's busiest freeways, closed for construction, was reopened ahead of schedule Sunday. "Carmadegeddon, shmarmageddon," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, as he and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced at midday Sunday that Interstate 405 would reopen 17 hours before Monday's morning rush hour begins. Despite Los Angeles' reputation as "the car capital of the United States of America, the congestion capital, the city most addicted to the single-passenger automobile," motorists found alternatives to driving for the weekend, Mayor Villaraigosa said.
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NEW: Interstate 405 reopened 17 hours ahead of schedule
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NEW: Los Angeles traffic dropped by two-thirds because of dire gridlock warnings
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NEW: "We can get out of our car once in a while and survive," Mayor Villaraigosa says
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"Carmegeddon" was not the traffic nightmare predicted for Los Angeles drivers
"The fact that we were able to do it sooner meant that things went very, very smoothly," @placeholder said Sunday.