Traffic Advice

[jlindley9]

So, we are planning our new son's first trip in February. This will also be the first surprise trip for our daughter. We're going to pick her up from kindergarten at 11:30 am on a Friday and leave straight for Anaheim.

We're coming from the Sacramento area, so we should be hitting LA around 5 pm, I figure. We used to live near Ontario, so we're very familiar with 210 and 57. I am leaning toward taking those freeways instead of 5 the whole way. Looks like that route would add about 20 miles, but I'm thinking avoiding the 5/10 interchange would make up for the extra distance. Comments? Thanks!

 

[Raindown]

It wouldn't be a bad choice. Going into downtown and then back out during rush hour isn't very fun. You'll pick up a little bit of help being Friday but still. I'm not a big 210 user but, it probably will hold up better than the 5.

 

[briangl]

So, we are planning our new son's first trip in February. This will also be the first surprise trip for our daughter. We're going to pick her up from kindergarten at 11:30 am on a Friday and leave straight for Anaheim.

We're coming from the Sacramento area, so we should be hitting LA around 5 pm, I figure. We used to live near Ontario, so we're very familiar with 210 and 57. I am leaning toward taking those freeways instead of 5 the whole way. Looks like that route would add about 20 miles, but I'm thinking avoiding the 5/10 interchange would make up for the extra distance. Comments? Thanks!

The 210 eastbound can be backed up pretty bad leaving Pasadena. The HOV lanes may save you a bit of time. It should be less congested than I-5 through downtown though.

 

[kikiq]

There will be traffic on the 210/57 BUT it's not necessarily the traffic on 5 through downtown that's the hold up. It's the traffic coming out of downtown LA into the Norwalk area. Could take another 2 hours from downtown LA to Anaheim going on the 5. Once you get on the 57 from the 210, the traffic moves and then you will hit the Friday night traffic on 5 north slow but moving.

 

[Armadillo4]

We used to live near Ontario, so we're very familiar with 210 and 57. I am leaning toward taking those freeways instead of 5 the whole way. Looks like that route would add about 20 miles, but I'm thinking avoiding the 5/10 interchange would make up for the extra distance. Comments? Thanks!

It's definitely possible to save time on the 210, but I have experienced a pretty backed up 210 from Pasadena all the way to the 605.

Do you have a smartphone? Google maps or Sigalert.com have been amazingly helpful for my trips from the San Fernando Valley to Disneyland. Both have traffic features so you can try to avoid as many of the red (i.e. congested) markings as possible. Since you're familiar with the area freeways, you can look at the traffic and pick and choose alternate freeways with more green indicators and less red marks. Good luck with your upcoming trip!

 

[jlindley9]

Thanks everyone!

 

[pixiewings71]

When we hit the rush hour traffic in LA our Garmin usually reroutes us to the 210. It's worked well for us. But we just follow what the Garmin tells us to do, she hasn't steered us wrong yet. Well not in a major way anyway. LOL