I-5 Traffic

[mickey+minnie91]

Hi, we will be traveling down I-5 on a friday. Does anyone know about what time the traffic starts to back up after the grapevine?? We plan on leaving Sacramento around 6:30-7 and it takes about 6 hours. Wasnt sure when rush hour started up in the LA area.

Thanks!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Hi, we will be traveling down I-5 on a friday. Does anyone know about what time the traffic starts to back up after the grapevine?? We plan on leaving Sacramento around 6:30-7 and it takes about 6 hours. Wasnt sure when rush hour started up in the LA area.

Thanks!

i went last friday and left merced at 10am....I got to LA at around 1:15 or so...it took me 3 hours to get to anaheim from LA the traffic was backed up from the 2 and 134 interchange (Glendale) all the way down to anaheim...once I got to anaheim I was fine..you are 2 hours from me so I would suggest that you leave either making it so you are either out of LA by noon else your gonna hit it and bad!!

 

[Valencia Joe]

Heavy traffic on Fridays does start around 12 noon at about the 5 & 134 interchange in Glendale/Griffith Park. It stays heavy all the way down to about the Orange County border where things start to pick up. Here is a tip for you travelling south: When you get to the 10 interchange on the 5 south (right where County USC is (medical campus)), take the 10 East to San Bernardino. Make sure you take the 10 East. Make sure to stay on the right lanes. When you get to the 710 intersection, take the 710 (Long Beach Freeway) South to Long Beach. Once on the 710, merge all the way over to the left lane (the fast lane). Take that all the way to the 5 South interchange (the ramp to the 5 South is on the left). This sets you up on the 5 South in the fast lanes which will eventually turn into a carpool lane once you get to Orange County. I know this may be confusing, but it does save you some time since the 5 South (Golden State) interchange to the 5 South (Santa Ana) gets quite backed up. The heaviest traffic on the 5 South is usually around that interchange. Doing this little short cut should avoid the traffic for you.

BTW, I am a Southern California native and know my shortcuts around the southland.

 

[tlovesdis]

Traffic in the whole southern cali area is horrible especailly on a Friday! My hubby and I drove down once on a Friday. We left Antioch at 10 or so and stopped in Velencia (Magic Mountain exit) for lunch about 2. We left there at 3 and did not get to our hotel in Anaheim until after 7pm! It was bumper to bumper the ENTIRE way to Anahiem. It was the worst. After that we never drove during the day again! We now leave at like 1 in the morning and arrive in about 5 1/2 hours. Going back home we do the same thing. We leave at like 3 or 4 am to avoid any traffic!

 

[blackjackdelta]

Thanks, now you have got me thinking about the Valencia to Anaheim drive again, after 18 hours on the road, not fun

Jack

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Not only that they are paving one lane on 5 further up for like 10 miles! That put us back a good 45 minutes on the way down. Right smack in the middle of no where, but it was bumper to bumper going BOTH ways! We went home on Sunday so thankfully they weren't working on it.

We also hit about an hours worth of traffic on 5 trying to get out of LA on Sunday.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Thanks, now you have got me thinking about the Valencia to Anaheim drive again, after 18 hours on the road, not fun

Jack

its not valencia you will have a problem with...its LA to Anaheim....maybe you should go the route the above poster indicated and see how that works out...

 

[Itinkso]

Heavy traffic on Fridays does start around 12 noon at about the 5 & 134 interchange in Glendale/Griffith Park. It stays heavy all the way down to about the Orange County border where things start to pick up. Here is a tip for you travelling south: When you get to the 10 interchange on the 5 south (right where County USC is (medical campus)), take the 10 East to San Bernardino. Make sure you take the 10 East. Make sure to stay on the right lanes. When you get to the 710 intersection, take the 710 (Long Beach Freeway) South to Long Beach. Once on the 710, merge all the way over to the left lane (the fast lane). Take that all the way to the 5 South interchange (the ramp to the 5 South is on the left). This sets you up on the 5 South in the fast lanes which will eventually turn into a carpool lane once you get to Orange County. I know this may be confusing, but it does save you some time since the 5 South (Golden State) interchange to the 5 South (Santa Ana) gets quite backed up. The heaviest traffic on the 5 South is usually around that interchange. Doing this little short cut should avoid the traffic for you.

BTW, I am a Southern California native and know my shortcuts around the southland.

Another option is to take the 210 East and then the 57 South. Near Pasadena, stay in the right lanes for the 210. Then stay on the 210 until the 57 south. You can exit onto Katella from the 57 (the Arrowhead Pond/Honda Center is at this exit.) We usually take this route when traffic is backing up around Valencia. We just came back from San Diego on Sunday and took the 57 to the 210 on our return. We should have taken 210/57 on Friday but we mistakenly took the 5 all the way to San Diego and it took us 5 hours (from Visalia) - there was a Dodgers game that evening!!

 

[Doc Steel]

Newb here making his first trip to DL.

How much traffic should I expect tomorrow (Wednesday) leaving LAX at around 11?

 

[blackjackdelta]

Not only that they are paving one lane on 5 further up for like 10 miles! That put us back a good 45 minutes on the way down. Right smack in the middle of no where, but it was bumper to bumper going BOTH ways! We went home on Sunday so thankfully they weren't working on it.

We also hit about an hours worth of traffic on 5 trying to get out of LA on Sunday.

Further up from where?

Jack

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Further up from where?

Jack

I want to say an hour before the grapevine. I wish I could say exactly, I had just woke up from a car nap and it was in the middle of no where!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I want to say an hour before the grapevine. I wish I could say exactly, I had just woke up from a car nap and it was in the middle of no where!

which is around LA...thats what Im saying...from LA to anaheim it is horrible...btw...Itinkso....how much time did it shave off going the 210 to 57 route?

 

[Albort]

which is around LA...thats what Im saying...from LA to anaheim it is horrible...btw...Itinkso....how much time did it shave off going the 210 to 57 route?

I-5 is nothing compared to our 405 freeway. For me, i dont think its worth driving an extra 10-20 miles to get around traffic. Just suck it up and take the traffic

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I-5 is nothing compared to our 405 freeway. For me, i dont think its worth driving an extra 10-20 miles to get around traffic. Just suck it up and take the traffic

ive been on the 405 fwy to san diego and I can tell you from experience that it is still not as bad as that distance between LA and anaheim on the 5

 

[Leofoenget]

Hi, we will be traveling down I-5 on a friday. Does anyone know about what time the traffic starts to back up after the grapevine?? We plan on leaving Sacramento around 6:30-7 and it takes about 6 hours. Wasnt sure when rush hour started up in the LA area.

Thanks!

Things should be pretty good until you hit Santa Clarita. That's when the traffic starts. Pretty much the only time we have made the drive and have not hit massive traffic was on a sunday. Drove straight through no traffic from San Jose to Disneyland on the 5 traffic free. Anyother time we hit traffic at around santa clarita around 3ish.

must have coffee.........

 

[Itinkso]

which is around LA...thats what Im saying...from LA to anaheim it is horrible...btw...Itinkso....how much time did it shave off going the 210 to 57 route?

Lynn: When the traffic is flowing on the 5 we can make it to DL in a little over 3 hours; when traffic starts backing up near Santa Clarita we take the 210 to the 57 and it takes about 3 1/2 hours. We don't mind taking this route as we used to take the 210 to my daughter's college in Claremont.

When we were in line to get into DL on the 50th birthday, a traveling salesman advised us to always avoid the 5 and even though it was a Sunday he said to take the 57/210 on our return trip! My car takes premium gas so I figure I rather drive a few extra miles than to burn up gas sitting on the freeway!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

My car takes premium gas so I figure I rather drive a few extra miles than to burn up gas sitting on the freeway!

no kidding!

 

[tinkryansmom]

Hi fellow Central Valley-ites!!

I have to agree with above poster. We always do the 210/57 route UNLESS we can guarantee we will well through LA before 1 on a Friday.

The 5 is a nightmare from LA to Orange County. And the 405 has to be one of the worst freeways in LA no matter what time it is. It always seems to be slow.

My $.02 for what its worth.