Freeway Traffic

[maimazda]

if you tune to AM 980 radio station. Usually it give an update on traffic about every 5 to 10 minute. It will help a little once you learn your way around town. Trafic jam here will be part of your daily commute( at least Mon thru Fri) period. Just give your self plenty of front and back space between cars. So you can react in any situation.

[Rats]

http://www.sigalert.com as well as Google Maps are great resources for learning traffic patterns and alternate routes. Study them carefully.

[WJD]

Watch alot of Nascar racing to get and idea how to drive here and drive on the right side of the road.

I'd suggest you get a place to live in Arcadia. Nice area.

[Keithns]

Originally Posted by MikeD297

Hi, I'm potentially relocating to LA from Australia for a year, work would be in the Arcadia area.

Can someone tell me, are the freeways in LA continually blocked (its the impression you could get from reading some of the postings) or is there a pattern to it, like morning rush is all toward downtown LA itself and afternoon is all away?

Thanks, Mike.

Click the Traffic button at maps.google.com at various times of the day.

[Bronze18]

So can street routes be considered a daily option? Once when I visisted LA and stayed at LAX I took La Cienega from LAX to Sunset, Melrose, and Hollywood. Often times traffic seemed to be moving quicker on the street than the highway.

[morefromcali]

Hi Bronze18

You lucked out the day you tried La Cienega all the way up. I've had it take a half hour to move a few blocks on La Cienega north of LAX. I've also had it be great, but I wouldn't want to count on it for this route.

That being said, I often take surface streets instead of the freeways. I'm not sure they are any faster, but at least I have the option of turning and taking a different surface street at will. It really depends on where you are going.

[jdavid93225]

Going back to the question that was asked about the direction of traffic, I would like to add that there is more traffic heading into downtown L.A. than out of it in the morning, and vice-versa in the afternoon. This does not mean that traffic is light in the opposite direction - it isn't usually. Getting anywhere in town during rush hour can be brutal. The best bet is to go early and beat the rush, or wait until late morning and go after the rush.

I've seen places where the normal flow of traffic used to be heaviest towards L.A. in the morning, and away in the afternoon, and now the heaviest traffic is heading towards L.A. in the afternoon! This seems to be the case on I-5 through Santa Clarita. The southbound I-5 traffic is terrible in the afternoon.

Be prepared for heavy traffic wherever and whenever you go anywhere. Some days it won't be too bad, and other days it will be downright miserable.

If possible, have a backup plan in case it becomes unbearable. If I hit bad traffic in the afternoon, I will occasionally stop and do some shopping before going home, if I know the freeway will be better within a short time (due to an accident, for example). Another option is to stop for dinner in the hope that the traffic will die down while you're eating.

[artichoke63]

Originally Posted by OCCASparky

One of the biggest sellers at Best Buy or other electronics retailers is the "virtual traffic maps" which give live updates and recommend alternate routes. They're not cheap (I think some go for as much as 400-500 bucks) and require monthly subscriptions, but if you travel much around the LA basin they're a MUST.

I agree. Those GPS systems are fantastic.