Alternate routes from Hwy 5

[hulamom]

A few months ago, somebody posted some alternate routes to take when Highway 5 was backed up with traffic, but I've forgotten them!

We'll be driving down to LA from the bay area on a Friday afternoon (leaving after the kids get out of school around 3pm), which means we could hit LA traffic that early evening. Add to that, it will be the friday before Veteran's Day, so it is a potential 3 or 4 day weekend for some.

What, if anything, would locals recommend we take as an alternate? Is the 210/57 going too out of the way? What about the 10/57?

At what point after the Grapevine does traffic on the 5 get really bad?

Mahalo,

Hulamom

 

[CalvaryMike]

If you're not leaving until 3 p.m., the traffic should be nominal by the time you get here. Even holiday traffic lightens up around 8 or maybe 9 p.m.

And that's always barring any accidents.

 

[dirtbikebride]

We are leaving tomorrow at around 3:30pm from Sunnyvale. I'm hoping that once we hit the LA area we will be late enough that we won't hit the commute traffic. We have done the 210/57 down to Disney and that has a lot of traffic coming off of 5 to the 210.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

A few months ago, somebody posted some alternate routes to take when Highway 5 was backed up with traffic, but I've forgotten them!

We'll be driving down to LA from the bay area on a Friday afternoon (leaving after the kids get out of school around 3pm), which means we could hit LA traffic that early evening. Add to that, it will be the friday before Veteran's Day, so it is a potential 3 or 4 day weekend for some.

What, if anything, would locals recommend we take as an alternate? Is the 210/57 going too out of the way? What about the 10/57?

At what point after the Grapevine does traffic on the 5 get really bad?

Mahalo,


Hulamom

its hard to say at what point past the grapevine will you hit traffic because well your biggest issue is that it is friday and no matter what time of day or night you go its going to be packed...i know Magic Mountain is doing some halloween thing and I think it runs on weekends so that might cause some traffic..Im leaving here tomorrow by 1pm and I know Im in for it...I live 5 hrs from DL but I cant leave any sooner than 1 so Im gonna tell you that the best thing to do imo from my frequent trips down there to do 5 to 210E to 57S and then straight on down to Anaheim...I think you might have some problems on the 210 but your biggest issue will be the connector of 91 then 60 on the 57...so all I can say is brace yourself and go with the expectations your going to get in there late...use the carpool lane as much as possible...im telling you that at times its been a lifesaver...good luck!!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Aloha, Girl!

Stay on the 5. By the time you get here, it will be fine. Nothing you can't deal with - especially coming from your area. I would rather see you do that, then take a wrong lane at the 57/60 interchange in the dark and end up in Pomona or Riverside.

 

[Mugglemama]

personally, i hate the 5, and will never travel on in it north of valencia ever again, lol.

we are from ventura originally, so have been over the grapevine several times, and have taken the 5 on our way to yosemite or sacramento, etc., before.

HOWEVER, it seems to get worse and worse every year. and last year when we were driving home from disneyland (we now live in idaho), we nearly got creamed on the 5 so many times i lost count! people were driving so erratically....cutting trucks off, cutting us off, zipping in and out of traffic, nearly causing major accidents left and right. it was a nightmare. and the road itself seemed to be in very crappy condition...chewed up pretty bad and in some places, you couldn't even see the line between the lanes.

so now, we catch the 101 in san jose and take that down to ventura where we catch the 126 and then take that out to the 5 at valencia (the junction is right next to magic mountain). i think it adds one hour to our travel time, but the drive is so much nicer. the 101 is a very well maintained freeway, and the scenery is 100% better, too.

we typically don't take the 5 all the way to disneyland, because we have family to visit in the south bay. so we take the 5 to the 405, then when we leave relatives' houses, we catch the 91 back to the 5, which is also a very easy drive on well maintained freeways. that's likely further out of the way then most would want to go, but it is such a much better drive than the 5, and it keeps you from having to drive through downtown L.A., where we all know the traffic can get backed up nearly any time of day or night.

good luck, and drive safe!!!

 

[hulamom]

Aloha, Girl!

Stay on the 5. By the time you get here, it will be fine. Nothing you can't deal with - especially coming from your area. I would rather see you do that, then take a wrong lane at the 57/60 interchange in the dark and end up in Pomona or Riverside.

Mahalo for everybody's advice! Sounds like we may be okay staying on the 5 since we'll probably hit it around 8 or 9pm. However, it's nice that there's always an alternate (210/57) in case of unexpected weekend/holiday traffic or an accident. I'll have my Blackberry with me, so I can check traffic conditions.

A few people, including Nancy above mentioned the 57/60 interchange. What's bad about it? Is it one of those, "not really an interchange, but more like a series of turns" kind of interchange?

DH is pretty good with directions and I'm a reasonable navigator (despite during our honeymoon in England, having to circle a roundabout in Ireland about 6 times until we decided which choice to make).

-- Hulamom

 

[Krismutt]

You could also try taking the 210 to the 605 which will hit the 5 closer to DL which will get you out of downtown LA but on a friday it really doesn't matter. The 605 comes up about 15-20 earlier on the 210 than the 57. I think you would backtrack more on the 57 than the 605.

Good luck!