Suggestion for Pasadena to Santa Monica commute (Brentwood: home, live)

[vikram]

Need some help. I live near oldtown Pasadena and will be starting a new job in April. Will have to commute to near the intersection of Olympic and Bundy drive (near Santa Monica). Moving is not an option in the short term.

I would need to be at work around 8:30 am and would leave around 6:30 pm -I know peak traffic hours and my commuting life is going to be hell.

Any suggestions on best way to avoid I-10? whats the best commute:

110S through downtown to I-10W OR
134W to 405S ?

Any alternate surface routes - need help please!

[LivingLikeAGradStudent]

That's a tough one. My wife works in Brentwood and we live downtown (for now), so she has some similar options. The 405 at rush hour is tough. You might think about taking the 110 south (or the the 134 west to the 2 south) and take surface streets (Olympic, as an example) west to avoid the 10. It's a long drive but not as dependent on freeway conditions.

[UB50]

You can take the 2 south until it ends -- that will put you near Echo Park/Silverlake. The street that it ends on forks and you need to take the fork to the right (I think that is Alvarado). Take Alvarado to any street that goes through to Hollywood (3rd, 6th or even Wilshire might be good. Don't take Sunset because it winds around and it's crowded until you get past Hollywood.)

That's going to be a really long commute. Too bad you can't catch Metrolink and then connect with a bus or something else to get back to Santa Monica. Metrolink would get you from Pasadena to LAX.

[dusesean1986]

The best advice take surface streets as much as possible, it will save you a great deal of time! You have to find out the streets which are less congested, there a million streets of which few people travel on.

[rdaddy]

WHoever, says to take side streets from Pasadena to Santa Monica hasn't done it in rush hour... Don't listen to any of these other responses, trust me, I've been commuting from the east side of Pasadena to Santa Monica (Cloverfield exit) for two years now. The BEST thing you can do BY FAR is leave before 6:00 am. Right at 6:00 is ok. It will save you at least 30-60 minutes. You have two options from Old Town. Take the 110 south to the 10 west through downtown, or what I do is take the 210 west to the 134 west to 2 south, to 5 south, to 110 to 10. It's a little longer, but if you are not close to the 110 south in Pasadena, it saves a few minutes rather than driving on the side streets to get to it. You WILL get to Santa Monica in about 30 minutes if you leave before 6:00 am guarnteed, if there are no accidents.

Now, on the way home is a different story. If you leave work by 3:30, it will take an hour coming back the same way. If you leave after 3:30, closer to 1.25 to 1.5 hours. I always come back the second way (110 north to Pasadena). If you go the other way, getting onto the 5 north from 110 is a nightmare. If you wait as long as possible to get over into the left lane, it is better, but I hate when people cut me off at the last minute, so I suggest you be reasonable about it.

Trust me, leave for work early for this commute and stick to the freeways. I've tried every back street possible and it's not worth it. You'll get home two hours later and wonder why the heck you tried it. Now, I did find a good shortcut through downtown on the way home that saves 15 minutes. I can't really explain it, but if you can find a route through downtown on the side streets on the way HOME only, you can bypass the 110 around town where all the freeways come together. Getting through there takes about 25 minutes at times.

After a while, you will want to move, but I hope this makes it a little easier.

[Rats]

Originally Posted by rdaddy

getting onto the 5 north from 110 is a nightmare. If you wait as long as possible to get over into the left lane, it is better, but I hate when people cut me off at the last minute, so I suggest you be reasonable about it.

if you don't want to be an *******, get off the 110 at the stadium way or solano exit, go northeast on broadway, then get on the 5 onramp from broadway or pasadena ave. it takes 5 minutes but it's much quicker than waiting in line for the interchange.