Carmageddon officially started Friday night with the closing of ramps to Freeway 405 in Los Angeles, but initial reports said the fears of a horrible traffic snarl were blown out of proportion.

The evening rush hour traffic was light as people were forced off the road by the much-hyped fear of carmageddon. Those rare motorists who dared grim predictions in fact got to enjoy riding on the ghost roads.

However, Los Angeles Times reported that tempers were frayed as authorities shut down all traffic near the Mulholland Drive Bridge before midnight, trapping some drivers on the Freeway between Skirball Center and the Bridge.

On social networking sites people were relieved that the commotion was not as bad as predicted.

Carmaggedon? More like carmaheaven. No traffic in L.A., a Twitter user said, according to AP. When I left work, it was like a no man's land, Chip Dorsh added.

Marking the countdown to the feared ‘Carmageddon’, or the weekend closure of a nearly 10-mile stretch of the Interstate 405, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attempted to brush aside a 'car apocalypse', saying the chaos will do good in future.

We can either say we survived Carmageddon, or we can say we survived the Carmageddon hype ... It doesn't have to be the end of the world. This is a unique opportunity for Angelenos to shop locally and to discover the world of public transportation, said Villaraigosa.

Interstate 405 has also been one of the most over-burdened freeways in the country with an estimated annual average daily traffic 374,000 in 2008. This number relates to the traffic between exits 21 and 22 in Seal Beach.

The weekend closure is part of California's plans to breathe life to the choking freeway. During 53 hours of closure, the north side of the Mulholland Bridge will be demolished as part of the $1 billion Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project.

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