English_lady

we are staying overnight in Torrance and planning to drive to death valley next morning.Our aim is to leave Torrance by 8 ~8.30am, reach Ridgecrest by noon, to stop and have lunch. Then continue forward. As it is a weekday, is it easier to take highway 405(google and mapquest)or take 710 and join I5??
Please advice, we do not want to be stuck in traffic.

joesorce

710 to 15 sounds a bit better at that time of day, but you really have to watch the a.m. travel reports on the local tv or newsradio. Also, you should plan to leave at 7am instead of 8am.

RBCal

If it were me I would take the 710 to the 105 east to the 605 north to the 210 east and then the 15 north.

Traffic will be bad until you reach the 210 no matter what since you are leaving during morning rush hour.

lvk

Is there any way you could leave before 7am or after 10? I think you would save yourself alot of misery, and still be in Ridgecrest by lunchtime.

I live just south of Torrance, and when driving to the 395, we always find it much easier to take the 110 north to the 5 to the 14. Avoid the 405 at all costs.

Also, the 710 is no picnic, with all of those large trucks coming up from the ports. The 210 would take you farther east than you need to be.

mlgb

Yes 710 is not logical if you are in Torrance. I think you might have meant the Harbor Freeway (110). Anyone know if there is a carpool lane on the 405 Freeway? That would probably be the best. The freeways 110 and 710 go thru downtown before you can take the 5 north, so I don't think it will save you much time. Once you're past West LA the 405 should move right along. Leaving at 7am is still too late.

hpeabody

Here's yet another suggestion.

From the 605 you might try the 60 to the 15. There are several ways to get to the 605 freeway. You can take 405 through Long Beach and pick up the 605 North (simplest), but there is the 110 or 710 you can take to either the 91 or 105 to the 605. You can cross over from the 605 to the 15 on the 60, the 10 or the 210. 60 the shortest I believe would be the 60.

I would imagine no matter what you'll run into some traffic at the time you are leaving. I don't think the 710 will be a good choice.

As someone recommended, listen to traffic reports, maybe AM980, KFWB always on the 1s.

Jean

I live in the South Bay, and I'm confused by some of these replies.

English lady wants to know what we think about the Mapquest-suggested route, which I find to be:

Local Torrance address to
110 north to
91 east to
710 north to
105 east to
605 north to
210 east to
15 north to
CA 127 exit for Death Valley

(FYI, Mapquest suggests staying on the 15 to Baker and not taking 395 through Ridgecrest.)

I think the only debate is at the start of the trip: either go 110/91/710 to the 105 as suggested or go 405 to the 105. We start in Manhattan Beach which is north of Torrance, and we take the 405/105 because of the speed of the carpool lane on the 105 in the morning. There is a carpool lane on the 405 north, but it can be congested in the morning.

Mapquest says the journey is about 300 miles.

English_lady

Thanks for all your input.I am actually interested in the first part of my journey where I have to drive from Torrance and cut across LA. Ideally it should take an hour but rush hour traffic is a different story. We shall try to leave by 7am, but doesn't seem realistic at this point.
As usual, all of you have been a great help.

mlgb

No no no, you are going about 100 miles out of your way if you take the 210 east the 15 to get to Ridgecrest.

Try using maps.google.com and ask for directions from Torrance,CA to Ridgecrest, CA. You want to go thru Lancaster and Mojave.

<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=Ri..."></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=Ri...&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

mlgb

Yikes! Sorry about that alphabet scramble on the link. Fodors, get a good edit function in here!

Just click one of the two sections starting with "http://

You can see just how far out of the way this route takes you. It makes no sense if you're going thru Ridgecrest first.