The 405: Lament of a Commuter (Los Angeles: live in, bus, train)

[LALady]

[quote=greggd;2106978]

Originally Posted by katenik

Its a sore point for me because a couple of times a week I am subject to the
valley commuters cutting through residential areas....

Commuters from the SF valley have deteriorated the quality of life for residents of brentwood. palisades, malibu, & some parts of santa monica. Traveling from either city to westwood or west la takes up to 1 hour rather than 10 minutes strictly because commuters cut through the residential street/sunset blvd to access the 405 north at one of its most northern entry points.

I'd like to see all the commuters enter at wilshire and santa monica where they originate. If it becomes so unbearable, a light rail to transport them to & from their poorly chosen northern/cheaper locations will become feasible.

Sunset east and all the northbound cross street leading to sunset are backed up for miles due to the entry ramp to the 405 north. Closing this entry will force them to enter the freeway in a business district rather than a residential district.

Sunset backs up against UCLA. UCLA has 100,000 visitors (students, staff, tourists, etc.) per day. Forcing a significant portion of UCLA traffic to find another way to the 405 would bring west LA to a stand still. Remember the day the crane fell by the 405 (within the last 6 months). ALL of west LA came to a halt.

If it makes you feel any better... On the otherside of the hill, in SF, many of the streets that wind through the nicer areas such as Laurel Canyon and Valley Glen are backed up as well.

[LALady]

[quote=katenik;2111372]

Originally Posted by greggd

gotcha, but i understand the other side, too.

i took santa monica west from hollywood one morning recently, and it was taking ten minutes to go four blocks through beverly hills. the 405 wasn't my destination, but i had to pass it to get to where i was going, and imagined what it might be like to have to travel that route daily. (conclusion: i'd kill myself!) eventually i turned off on one of the residential streets in BH (roxbury, perhaps) and took sunset instead. even with the UCLA traffic, it was a much faster. perhaps those beverly hills residents are like you, and don't like traffic passing through their neighborhood (i wouldn't either, frankly), but on that particular morning, i didn't have time to sit in the parking lot that was santa monica blvd caring; i had someplace i needed to be.

Santa Monica Boulevard is out of control. So are many of the other West side boulevards. If you ever want to recapture that suicidal feeling try taking Overland or Lincoln South at rush hour. Holy Crap!

[LALady]

Originally Posted by kissed_by_fire

I spent the past 6 months driving across country and let me tell you, it is ODD driving outside of LA. In the mid west people are actually nice on the road and instead of doing everything in their power to make your life a living hell, they actually help you.

I experienced a jarring driving experience while visiting the south. A garbage truck was stopped in my lane up ahead. I came to a stop, fully expecting the typical LA reaction - that everyone would speed up to prevent me from pulling into their lane. Instead the cars in the next lane stopped, without me even signalling a need to change lanes! The other cars saw my lane was blocked and stopped to let me change lanes! NEVER would have happened in LA. NEVER!!!

[greggd]

Sunset Blvd east to the 405 from the palisades/brentwood is backed up on some days for miles. Some days its wide open all the way to the 405, then other days is packed. In the end, when you finally reach the 405, the cause of the jam is from commuters entering the 405 north onramp at sunset and also moraga.

Im simply trying to go from one end of west la to another and am barred until after 7-8 pm due to valley commuters. PCH south is fine, palisades is ok, but once you hit allenford/26th st, you get all the santa monica commuters heading to the valley.

[motoman]

[quote=LALady;2127063]

Originally Posted by greggd

Forcing a significant portion of UCLA traffic to find another way to the 405 would bring west LA to a stand still.

Exactly! Traffic studies show that master planned housing communities, which are designed such that there can be no through traffic and all traffic is relegated to the major arteries, result in significantly worse traffic on the main arteries than would otherwise be the case. As a result, I have read in some parts of the country those types of master planned communities are no longer being approved by housing boards.

As an example, I used to work in Plano, TX, 12 years ago. The population density of Plano, particularly then, is nowhere near that of LA. Yet partly because of the master planned communities, there were times it could take you 15 minutes to get through a single intersection. Everyone was forced to use the same main arteries. There was no way around it.

[greggd]

Ok, the quotes above are not mine. Looks like Im being pulled on a quote of a quote.

UCLA traffic to the 405 is only one of the issues that plaques the area. There is a huge # of commuters coming from the south west, west la and santa monica as well. I can see barring UCLA traffic from sides streets would cause heavy wilshire blvd traffic but thats what needs to be done to resolve the problem.

Basically, wilshire blvd needs a dedicated lane to ucla. somehow.

Also contributing to the problem is veteran blvd, north of wilshire. The new apartment development across from the cemetary is a joke. There are 100s of cars parking on the street by those new bldgs. Why? Why arent they in the parking garage built specifically for those units? Laziness, convenience, not enough understructure parking spaces? probably a combination of all.

Poor planning, poor regulations, oversight and design review.
A start to relieving traffic would be to have no parking on both sides of veteran north of wilshire. wrap it around the cemetary with a dedicated lane for UCLA residents, employees, etc.

[JackSparrow]

Originally Posted by greggd

Ok, the quotes above are not mine. Looks like Im being pulled on a quote of a quote.

UCLA traffic to the 405 is only one of the issues that plaques the area. There is a huge # of commuters coming from the south west, west la and santa monica as well. I can see barring UCLA traffic from sides streets would cause heavy wilshire blvd traffic but thats what needs to be done to resolve the problem.

Basically, wilshire blvd needs a dedicated lane to ucla. somehow.

Also contributing to the problem is veteran blvd, north of wilshire. The new apartment development across from the cemetary is a joke. There are 100s of cars parking on the street by those new bldgs. Why? Why arent they in the parking garage built specifically for those units? Laziness, convenience, not enough understructure parking spaces? probably a combination of all.

Poor planning, poor regulations, oversight and design review.
A start to relieving traffic would be to have no parking on both sides of veteran north of wilshire. wrap it around the cemetary with a dedicated lane for UCLA residents, employees, etc.

Excellent point. One end of my block butts up against Veteran, and I consider Veteran a dead end at Wilshire.

[9126ebk]

leave at 6 in the morning.... (easy 405 commute at that time) once in Santa Monica find something to do to kill time before u start work.

[greggd]

Originally Posted by 9126ebk

leave at 6 in the morning.... (easy 405 commute at that time) once in Santa Monica find something to do to kill time before u start work.

Why not fix the problem? Quality of life. What about on the way home?
stay in santa monica until 9pm. Why not just move closer to work and walk.

I don't even commute and am still caught up in it all. Going from PCH to westwood can take well over 1 hour.

[motoman]

Originally Posted by greggd

Going from PCH to westwood can take well over 1 hour.

That is insane!