What time in the evening does traffic ease up in SF downtown? (Sacramento: home)

[Mounty]

We'll be traveling through on a weekday and I wanted to see the downtown but rather not deal with the traffic. We'll be driving a convertible so I'd like to be able to slowly cruise through the city downtown without being pressured by traffic.

[twins4lynn]

I'd be very uncomfortable driving through the downtown area at night in a convertible.

[04kL4nD]

Around 8 pm. Make sure you wear a winter coat, gloves, and a ski cap. A scarf might help too

[rca215]

I would think a lot of traffic would help your goal of cruising slowly.

[pch1013]

What do you mean by "downtown," and in which direction would you be "cruising"? If you're just referring to the Financial District, which is what most people mean by "downtown," it would be a very short cruise. The Financial District is relatively tiny.

The one thing you should absolutely avoid is being anywhere near AT&T park, or the roads between it and the freeways, within 2 hours of the beginning or end of a Giants home game. Other than that, the worst snarls during the evening rush hour (in my experience) occur on the approaches to the Bay Bridge -- the Embarcadero, Battery/First Streets, Harrison Street, etc. Things *usually* start to lighten up a bit by 7pm, but with so many people working such long hours these days, it's not really traffic-free until after 8 or so.

A nice drive to take would be up Twin Peaks, which is not "downtown" but does provide amazing views of it, as long as it's not foggy. Another nice one would be the entire length of the Embarcadero, perhaps also taking in the Presidio (but again, don't bother with the Presidio if it's foggy).

If you're passing through from south to north, i.e. from the Peninsula to Marin, you could take 280 all the way to the end, when it turns into King Street and then the Embarcardero; follow it along the waterfront then turn left on Bay Street which leads to the Golden Gate Bridge.

But not -- I repeat NOT -- before or after a Giants home game.

[ccm123]

Personally, I would not. The traffic is pretty congested on weeknights until 7-8PM. The streets in the downtown area also don't have a lot of lanes, so be prepared to sit in idled traffic.

[Mounty]

Originally Posted by twins4lynn

I'd be very uncomfortable driving through the downtown area at night in a convertible.

Why? Are you talking about safety or cold?

It looks like we'll come after 9pm. I want to see the city at night with all the lights. I'm mostly interested in the part of the town with all the skyscrapers.

Coming from north and on to Sacramento. So far I'm planning to visit Fin District and cruise a few streets north of Market all the way to Van Ness, back and forth.

Then, thanks to suggestions in this thread, we'll head to Twink Peaks and finish the tour going down O'Schaunessy blvd -> Alemany Blvd -> South Embarcadero and all the way north... then come back to I-80 and go east out of the city.

Please let me know if there's anything wrong with this plan. My main concern is safety. Is it ok to drive a convertible this late at night or will we be asking for trouble? What about Twin Peaks in this late hour, is it crowded or better be avoided? I understand it's gonna be very cold, so the top will go up on highways, but for slow 25-30mph downtown cruising we're hoping we could keep it down having scarfs and sweaters (and heated seats).

Are there any particular pars of this route we need to avoid or be very careful?

EDIT:
Here's a map of my approximate route. Let me know what you think, if I should avoid certain routes or if there's anything interesting I'm missing...

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=U...11,17&t=m&z=15

[pch1013]

I would avoid the area bounded by Geary, Mason/5th, Howard, and Van Ness. Everything else should be ok.