We'll be returning from wine country down the I-80 on a Sunday afternoon. Mapquest says just over an hour for the journey, but I know traffic can impact travel time significantly in the Bay area.

Any one done this drive on a Sunday afternoon, should we allow a huge (2 hours) buffer, or more along the lines of 30 minutes.

If it's not a holiday weekend Sunday afternoon. I'd allow 45 minutes to an hour buffer. You may not need it, but traffic is hard to predict. We have a decent amount of road construction happening in the bay area right now.

As Mr R5 likes to say,
"Create a jam~CALTRANS"


R5

Hi lovesadventure, the only comment I would add is if you are going to be on I-80 later on a Sunday afternoon the traffic can get quite heavy due to people coming back from Lake Tahoe etc. And there are accidents from time to time which sure can tie up traffic. Are you going to Oakland to fly out of the Oakland Airport? If so I would allow extra time so you do not miss your flight. If it is a case of getting to someones house, a hotel etc. than of course it wouldn't be so important.

R5..Mr. R5 is right, lol!!

On a Sunday afternoon all bets are off. 30 mins? Not in your dreams. 2 hours is probably more than adequate. But a stall anywhere on I-80 can easily add an hour to your time. And IF there is a race at Sears point (Infeon) or an A's game at the coliseum - that can impact traffic in strange and amazing ways. Or a wreck or stall on the Bay Bridge can back things up to Richmond.

Just to add, If you can make it early afternoon instead of later that would be better. I make a trip to visit my mom in Oakland on Sundays from San Jose. I leave by 9am, it takes an hour. I leave her place at noon, and it's 5 - 10 minutes longer coming back. Once we left here at 11 am and headed back at 3 pm. A lot more traffic than at our usual morning trip time.

If it's Oakland Airport you're headed for, then really allow ample time. Sometimes the traffic into the airport drop-off area is a clogged nightmare.