Los Angeles disc jockey Steve Morris announced on KRTH-FM that freeways in Los Angeles and Orange counties would be closed for major repairs from April 8 to May 1 so that road crews could work nonstop. Morris discussed the news throughout his morning show, which began at 6 a.m. He included a series of segments outlining the closure plans as well as interviews with "Lon Chevelle," a (fictitious) spokesman for the "Southern California Highway Advisory Board," aka SCAB. Finally, at 9:30 a.m. Morris interrupted his show to broadcast a SCAB press conference, airing live, at which it was announced, "April Fool!"
The radio station received hundreds of calls in response to the announcement, and both Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol reported that they were flooded with calls all day from worried commuters. KRTH later admitted that it was stunned by the reaction to the hoax and revealed that it had received a call from Caltrans "telling us that they didn't think it was very funny."
Steve Morris
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