Friday afternoon LA to SD (Pasadena, Orange: construction, estimate, car)

[elhelmete]

I have the pleasure of having to drive from Universal City Walk to Carlsbad next Friday, leaving around 1pm.

Done it before...know what I'm generally in for, but usually I leave from Encino so I always start on the 405.

In general, and notwithstanding my last-minute check of current conditions, would you reco the 5 all the way? Or the 5 to the 110 to the 405 and then the toll road to the 5?

TIA

[altoidboy]

Check Google Maps, which has a feature to estimate traffic at any time of day you want.

If you're leaving from Encino there really is only one "straight" way - 405 to 5.

Again, you can use Google Maps and drag your route so you can see how long each of those alternate routes really are. My guess is 101 > 5 > 110 > 405 > 5 would be at least 15 miles longer, and that would route you through downtown L.A. (the worst traffic), so you're unlikely to gain more than 15 minutes.

[CasaCalabaza]

Traffic will be pretty bad but not unexpected, the 5 seems to be getting backed up quite a bit with recent construction, at least until you hit Orange County where they have greatly widened the freeway (and you are now going the reverse of traffic until you hit the 5 and 405 connector).

If you leave at 1pm and clear downtown LA in good time, you may be riding the crest of the traffic wave so may get lucky with some stop and go but miss the rush out of town. If you were leaving from Encino there are a number of quicker, less trafficky routes but all eventually get back to the 5, so if your willing to jump around a bit depending on the situation you may be able to save a few minutes. A favorite of mine is the 405 to the 105 to the 110 to the 91 (missing the disaster that is the 22 to the 5 onramp) to the 5 .

As the Altoidboy noted, the Google Maps traffic feature is pretty cool and decently accurate

[Patrolman]

I suggest the 101 to the 134 to the 210 to the 57 to the 5.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by elhelmete

would you reco the 5 all the way? Or the 5 to the 110 to the 405 and then the toll road to the 5?

TIA

I would use technology as much as possible.

GPS in the car with traffic?
Someone in the vehicle with internet and a laptop and can monitor Sigalert, google traffic, and Bing Traffic?

It all depends.

But if you are at the 405/73, the 73 is the way to go as the El Toro Y will be getting bad by 3PM.

[Marv101]

From Universal City, my objective would be to go east as quickly as possible, which means taking the 101 onto the 134, picking up the 210 in Pasadena, and on to the 57 in San Dimas.

[altoidboy]

Yeah I researched and then used that exact route last week to get from LA to SD. Going out to the 57 adds about 15 miles to your trip, but that 15 miles is usually traffic-free and that more than compensates for 15 minutes spent in stopped traffic trying to go down the 5 or 101 which leads you straight through downtown (which is always bad traffic).

101S > 134E > 210E > 57S > 5S to SD