Best route through LA - 405S or I-5S (San Diego: moving, design)

[scootie-pants]

Hello,
we are moving from Seattle to San Diego..I would like to avoid going through the heart of L.A. Would you agree that taking 405 South is a wiser route than I-5 South? Or is traffic just the same? Also, what time of day is the worst?

Thanks in advance!

[Charles]

Go to google maps. Click on traffic. There is a new option which provides historical traffic data for time of day and day of the week. Also, look at Sigalert.com - Personalized Traffic Reports during the times you want to drive.

My guess is both are bad. Try to avoid rush hour.

Might also consider 210 to 15 but you'd have to analyze that.

[scootie-pants]

Thank you Charles! Would you say rush hour is from 3-7pm?

[CESpeed]

If you don't want to drive through the heart of LA, avoid the I-5; however the 5 straight through will be the fastest route. You don't want to be there aft 3p during the week. Morning should be okay the Valley to Dowtown isn't as bad as OC to LA.

[scootie-pants]

Would you say it be best to plan to travel through on a Thursday instead of Friday? I know we will arrive around 3pm; do you know about the other routes mentioned by Charles? By the way, what is OC?

[CESpeed]

I would say Thursday would be better than Friday. As for the route Charles mentioned, I'm not overly familiar with the route but I can tell you that the 210 has a car pool lane which the other freeways do not. The OC is Orange County.

[scootie-pants]

Thanks for your insight. I think we are going to plan to do it on Sat...should be more mellow then, right? Again, would you say 405 is better than I-5 on Sat?

[user376]

I made a similar thread about driving from SF to San Diego. See //www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...iego-what.html

My situation was a little different because it was the Friday before Memorial Day weekend so I knew LA traffic would be especially horrific

In any case, I ended up circumventing pretty much of all of LA by taking the route described in post #7. It's way out of the way distance-wise but I didn't hit any significant traffic. Perhaps on a normal traffic day you'd lose time on this route.

You'll also notice post #10 has a carpool route if you've got a passenger.

[skywalker400]

Used to drive to SD more often, and I always thought the 5 was a little faster/direct, despite the 405's designation as "the San Diego freeway". The stretch between East LA and the Orange County border is usually bad, but afterwards its clears out. I always enjoyed going through the LA after the monotony of the central valley, even if the people drive a little wacky.

[scootie-pants]

Thank you both User376 & Skywalker400. My only concern about the 15 is that it is thru the desert. We are a caravan of two vehicles; I will be driving the RAV with two pets and a child, and I am concerned about going thru desert in the peak of summer. Any comments?