I-5 traffic

[ddwlms]

We're coming in from the North, expect to be at Santa Clarita around 2 on Saturday. How will traffic be from there to Anaheim? Does coming in on a weekend make any difference?

 

[ParkHopper1]

Saturday at 2 won't be bad...weekday at 2 will be heavy traffic. When I travel to So Cal, I usually try and time it to be at or past Downtown LA no later then 2pm or wait till after 8pm to avoid the worst of it.

 

[bcla]

You can't account for car accidents slowing things down. Heck - once while coming back home we were delayed by at least 90 minutes due to a brush fire slowing things down as the fire crews were containing it.

 

[Nonsuch]

You can't account for car accidents slowing things down...

Waze and other real-time-traffic apps can be quite helpful.
We also drive down on 5, and select a route through LA based on traffic information. None of the apps take into account HOV (carpool) lanes, so the guidance is not optimal.

 

[ashley0139]

Saturday at 2 won't be bad...weekday at 2 will be heavy traffic. When I travel to So Cal, I usually try and time it to be at or past Downtown LA no later then 2pm or wait till after 8pm to avoid the worst of it.

Saturday afternoon can be just as bad as a weekday at rush hour.

 

[tlovesdis]

Saturday afternoon can be just as bad as a weekday at rush hour.

I agree! We once hit LA around 11am on a Saturday and it took about 1 1/2 hours to get to Anaheim from there. I was frustrated to say the least! Traffic down there is just bad all the time it seems! I used WAZE last week to get me from the base of the Grapevine to Disneyland on a Wednesday morning. We left our hotel at 6am and didn't get to our hotel at DL until 9am WAZE did take me off I-5 twice and we went around but it still took forever to get there. I can't imagine how long it would have taken had I stayed on I-5 the whole way!

 

[ddwlms]

Would you risk taking car pool over waze?

 

[longboard55]

we did that job recently, it was terrible. Please folks do not text and drive, those rear enders kill traffic. I would do the 210 to the 57 and avoid the 5 at all costs

 

[lk2500]

Is there a better way to get to Valencia (SFMM) and back? We've been twice and have just stuck it out on I-5 with the drive being 2-2 1/2 hours usually.

 

[ashley0139]

Is there a better way to get to Valencia (SFMM) and back? We've been twice and have just stuck it out on I-5 with the drive being 2-2 1/2 hours usually.

No, there's really no better way other than the 5. Sometimes there are little ways you can go around to get around traffic, but there is no other main road. Use Waze and sometimes it will take you around the worst traffic jams.

 

[rileyz]

We are driving from Santa Barbara to DL on a Tuesday. What time should we leave to make sure we miss the worst of the traffic? TIA

 

[ashley0139]

We are driving from Santa Barbara to DL on a Tuesday. What time should we leave to make sure we miss the worst of the traffic? TIA

5am. That would get you there 7-7:30 and LA traffic gets bad by 7, but you should be past most of that by then.

 

[gary1955]

I haven't been able to make the trip since late last year. how is the section of I-5 reconstruction going at the southern part of LA county?

 

[lk2500]

No, there's really no better way other than the 5. Sometimes there are little ways you can go around to get around traffic, but there is no other main road. Use Waze and sometimes it will take you around the worst traffic jams.

Is there any particular convenient exit halfway there with easy on/off I-5 access and a clean bathroom if the traffic is too much?

 

[ashley0139]

Is there any particular convenient exit halfway there with easy on/off I-5 access and a clean bathroom if the traffic is too much?

I'd say somewhere south of the downtown area. There's a big outlet mall in Commerce (The Citadel) that might be a good place to stop. The halfway area is really...not necessarily that great, so I would probably stop there if I wanted to stop partway down.

 

[sheetz]

Yeah, the Citadel has probably the best public bathrooms in SoCal!