Commute suggestions please Lake Forest to Irvine (Santa Ana, Anaheim: home, live)

[Tigerlily64]

I am finally making a move to Lake Forest (by the "U" shaped lake, Muirlands Blvd and Lake Forest Dr) in 2 weeks and will be working at Michelson and Jamboree area of Irvine. On the map it looks like a very simple route using I5/405 but having seen many posts regarding the traffic issues can anyone suggest the best times to make this commute and/or surface roads that would work well?

I am currently in the DFW Texas area and make a 14 mile commute on the I35 every day which always takes at least 40mins and often longer so I am used to sitting in stop-go traffic.

[JustJulia]

I moved away a few years ago, but from what I recall, from the El Toro Y up through Sand Canyon on the 405 was always very sluggish in the morning. I lived near the bigger lake (Jeronimo/Lake Forest) and worked near South Coast Plaza, off the Bristol exit, and my morning commute was around 35 minutes (11 miles). Muirlands turns into Barranca, so you can take it into Irvine, but I'm not sure it's much faster. I hope that others can give you good advice about what times might work better. That is an area that gets a lot of daily traffic.

[Tigerlily64]

Thank you JustJulia, currently I leave home around 6:30-6:45am as the 14 miles then takes 40-45mins but leave at 7am and that journey then takes 1hr and worse if you leave any later. I am guessing it might be a similar situation for the LF to Irvine commute.... Sigh!

[BuckeyeAtHeart]

In my opinion, you are not looking at a 40-minute commute unless you get caught up in a traffic jam on the 405. I drive 5N from Aliso Viejo to Santa Ana and it takes me about 30 minutes if I leave by 7:15 in the morning. Just for chuckles, I did a google traffic map of your drive and chose a weekday at 7:00. Your drive would take about 15 minutes and the freeway routes are bright green. I don't know what your working hours are, but if they are flexible, I would leave earlier rather than later and you should be fine.

[Tigerlily64]

Thank you for the input Buckeye, sounds promising and hopefully not as bad as the commute I currently do! Anything less than 30-40 mins to do the ten miles to the office will be a bonus!

[jackie100]

There is no way your morning commute in OC will be more than 40 min...Irvine and Lake Forest are super close... I used to drive the 405 every day form work and it would take me around 30-35 min to drive all the way from Fountain Valley to Lake Forest at around 7:30 am. Fountain Valley is WAY further up North on the 405 than Irvine. I had to pass through Costa Mesa AND Irvine in order to get to work and it took me around 30-35 min....

Once I hit around Irvine I could hit Lake Forest in another 5-7 minutes. However, I drove aggressively and passed slow drivers. If you keep driving behind a slow person and don't pass then yea, it will take you longer.... My commute was 21 miles btw.

This was my route except I didn't get on the 405 on Brookhurst but on Harbor MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map

Going home usually took around 40 minutes... and Fountain Valley is way up North, way more north than Irvine. Your commute would be no more than 15-20 min tops. You won't spend more than 10 min on the freeway.

My aunt lives in Houston and she told me traffic up there is way worse than Orange County. I know Dallas and Houston is not the same btw...

[Tigerlily64]

Thanks Jackie, sounds like it should be ok then just using the freeway and not trying to find an alternative surface road, and I prefer to get to work early and leave earlier in any case. Was just concerned after reading, and hearing, how horrible the traffic is in OC that I was exchanging one terrible commute for another! The I35 heading south into Fort Worth which I currently do is only 2 lanes, 3 at most in places and even at 6:30am the 14miles never takes less than 30-40mins. The evening return is worse and I always jump off at some point and take surface roads the remainder of the trip.

Someone I met also told me that the 10mile drive from Lake Forest to Laguna Beach will take an hour at weekends?!

[JustJulia]

Keep in mind that the traffic Jackie is talking about is coming from a different direction. The El Toro Y (where the 405 splits off/merges into the 5) is notorious for its traffic jams. Immediately north of the Y, the 133 merges from the 241 (toll roads), and the Sand Canyon exit is next. You will have lots of people trying to move across several lanes of traffic to get and out of the carpool lane, so it bunches up in places. I really don't think your commute will be 15 minutes unless you drive at off-peak traffic times. For instance, it's 6 a.m there and Sigalert shows that the 405 is cooking along nicely, with everybody going about 75. You will breeze to work at that rate, yes.

Sigalert.com Orange County Traffic Map

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by Tigerlily64

Thanks Jackie, sounds like it should be ok then just using the freeway and not trying to find an alternative surface road, and I prefer to get to work early and leave earlier in any case...

Someone I met also told me that the 10mile drive from Lake Forest to Laguna Beach will take an hour at weekends?!

The 405N is definitely a parking lot during rush hours (The 5N is also slow at that time), but even so, traffic does move and it should not take you 45 minutes to travel 10 miles from your home in Lake Forest to the area near the airport. I would budget 25-30 minutes tops.

The time of your workday departure is also critical. I used to work in Anaheim years ago and found that the trip there (5N) from my home in Aliso Viejo would take at least 45 minutes if I left at about 7:10-7:15 AM. Leaving from 6:55-7:05 AM reduced my travel time to about 25 -30 minutes.

Nevertheless, experience is always the best guide. My suggestion is to give yourself plenty of time for the first few days and arrive early if need be. Act as if it will take 45 minutes.

Afterwards, decide if it is worth it to you to hit the freeway early, if only to avoid the sight of the ugly 405 rush hour parking lot.

Regarding a weekend Lake Forest to Laguna Beach trip, yes, it might take an hour during summer months.

Road access to Laguna Beach is very limited, and I often notice that traffic is backed-up all the way to El Toro & Aliso Creek Road during the height of the beach season.

[Tigerlily64]

Thank you all for your replies, very helpful. I will leave early during the week to get to work and avoid the beach at weekends during the summer ;-D