dweebe

I recently took a trip where I flew into Los Angeles, spent a few days there and then drove to Las Vegas. After that we drove from LV to San Diego.

When I left I asked a few people and got the best route out of LA. (Specifically from Hermosa Beach: take Hwy 91 to I-15) They said the drive should take about 5 hours, unless something odd happens.

I left LA at 1:00pm on a Monday and sat in some of the most miserable traffic with it taking 3 hours just to get from Hermosa Beach to Ontario. After that it was smooth sailing but I still got into Las Vegas at 8:30.

Stayed in Las Vegas for a few days and left there around 2:00. I had no problem driving back. However "outbound" traffic on I-15 was a parking lot for miles and miles: all the way from the I-15/I-215 split to somewhere around Corona. It was so bad that most 18 wheelers where pulled off to the side.

My question: how often does this occur?

Gecko

For me, about once every 5 trips.

RBCal

Avoid the 91, Orange County often has the worst traffic. If you take the 60 or particularly the 210 you will get to the 15 much faster.
The Cajon pass can be a problem on Fridays but if you get to it before 2 pm you should be okay.

mlgb

Must have been an accident or construction impacts on the route out of town. Also we know to leave by 11 am!. Locals listen to the traffic reports (eg 1070 AM) and use alternate routes. The route given to you by "friends" was not much of a favor.

placeu2

I think it happens whenever you or I take that trip!

A couple of years ago we got stuck in one of those deals near Barstow..got off and got an ice cream. I got a kick out of the radio station that is specific to I-15. They are constantly giving information that applies to that ride. Forgot the frequency but it was a FM station.

dweebe

I was listening to the LA traffic channel on XM as well as local AM and FM stations both ways. All of them were basicly saying we were screwed.

RBCal: thanks. If I have to do the drive again I'll give that a shot. What's the best way to get from Hermosa Beach to the 60 or the 210?

mlgb: also thanks. I'll make sure to get on the road by 11am.

RBCal

To get to the 60, take the 105 east to the 605 north to the 60 east.

If you want to take the 210, keep going north on the 605, past the 10, up to the 210 east. The 210 runs into the 15 north right before the Cajon pass.

MBnancy

I live next door in Manhattan Beach, and I am surprised your HB friends would tell you to take the 91. We zip out the 105 near LAX, east to the 605 north, to the 60, etc. We usually leave around 10 am to avoid the LA work traffic, and it takes about 5 hours, give or take. We avoid Friday and Sunday drives.
8-)

BigJim

Traffic going to and from Vegas is very unpredictable nowadays. It's not like it used to be years ago. So stuff like that happens all the time! Plus, it seems like they've been doing construction on that 15 freeway forever now!! ...and that always slows things down!....specifically in the Baker area and the Barstow area.

clarkgriswold

Getting worse. 24 hour gridlock by 2008. Californians will just have to learn to carpool. And maybe to do things like grocery shopping once a week instead of daily. California also needs school buses. 200 SUV's go back and forth to each school twice a day at 7:30am and 2:30pm, day after day after day after day after day. Multiply that by 10 to 20 schools in each community and you get the picture.

sunshine

I hate the drive from L.A. or San Diego to Vegas. There are always a million big rigs and construction going on. We prefer to fly now b/c it only takes an hr.

dweebe

MBnancy: it wasn't friends who gave me the directions.

The first person was the manager at the Hotel Hermosa. The second and third people who told me to go that way were the waitress and cashier at "The Kettle". One of them had a boyfriend in Vegas and she said she went there every other week.

BigJim

The best way is to fly. All it takes is one little, or big, accident on the 15, and you're screwed!!

ssm

If I was traveling from LA, I would probably drive.

But since I am in OC, with check in lines, plane delays and all around hassles of airports I find myself driving with friends to Las Vegas more often than flying. In fact, the last 2 times I flew the total time it took me to get to Vegas from home was over 5 hrs due to delays! But only once in the past 9 or so trips where I drove can I recall a bad experience. That one was a result of a bad accident on the way home.

A few rules (two of which have already been alluded to):

1. NEVER take the 91 (unless you have a FastPass)

2. ALWAYS leave between 9:00am and 11:00 am (10:00 am is the prefered exact time)

3. Have plenty of good CDs for the drive

MBnancy

Dweebe: Sorry about that. We've stayed at the Hotel Hermosa when we had our house tented for termites a few years back, and of course the management would probably have you take Artesia Blvd. to catch the 91 Freeway out.
Most in this area use the 105 from LAX, perhaps the workers from the Kettle live closer to the 91.
Now you have heard other opinions and can decide for next time what you may want to try.
8-)

SimoneSassett

I'm going to disagree with others and let you know that I have only ONCE (out of 10 years of driving between Vegas and OC/LA) has the drive ever taken longer than 5 hours, and that was when it snowed over Christmas holiday and the drive from OC to Vegas took about 7 hours.

I travel to Vegas, on average, once a month, and I can get there - IN TRAFFIC - from South Orange County, no less - in about 4.5 hrs. MAX.

Heck, when we had those really bad rainstorms in December/January, I was driving like 30 mph in downpours and it still tok only 4.5 hrs. to get from Vegas to OC.

First of all - you can't do it without a FasTrak transponder. If you don't have it, then forget it... the 91 will suck balls.

Most of the time my OC/Vegas commute is about 3.5 hours.

dweebe

FasTrak is not an option for people visiting from somewhere else.

ellen_griswold

Speaking of LA traffic, hope someone can answer this question...

From anaheim to needles (in mid-july) which way would you recommend? We've been stuck on the 15 also so i wondered if a good alternative would be the 10 to rt 62 via Twentynine Palms, then to Old National Trail Highway (what kind of road is that?)? Taking the 10 to CA 95 seems really out of the way.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

ellen_griswold

Topping - Any LA road warriors out there that can help, please?

SimoneSassett

I know there's a 2-lane road from Victorville to Barstow that is an alternate route to the 15. But it's actually longer in distance, but I prefer to be moving at 55-65mph and drive a longer distance, than sitting in bumper-to-bumper on the 15 and getting there in the same amount of time. I wish I could remember the name of that road, though. I know it's on a map... That's the only "shortcut" I let myself take on the drive to/from Vegas. If I try something new, chances are I'll get lost and take even longer.

I also thought I'd mention that I JUST got back from a Vegas overnight this week. I was sort of bored on Tuesday afternoon, so I left Hawthorne (which is in South Bay LA) at exactly 4pm. I got on the 91 where it starts at Artesia Blvd. Even the sh*tty bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 91 Eastbound didn't keep me from getting to Vegas by 9pm. I took the 91 to the 15 North. No shortcuts. That 5 hours also included a 30 minute pitstop in Barstow for gas and snacks. So, really, it only took 4.5 hrs.

Then, when I returned home on Wednesday afternoon, I got out of Vegas at exactly 3pm... I was talking on the phone a good 2 hours during my drive, so my MPH was considerably slower - say 75-85 MPH. Then, the second half, I was able to go about 90-100 MPH for a good portion. No ticket, thank goodness. I was literally in downtown Irvine by 6:30pm.

That's a 3.5 hour drive, people... There was also some nasty construction on the 15 southbound in Barstow (as usual - Gawd, that's going to take another 5 years... typical Caltrans)

So, again, I say, 7 hour commutes between LA & LV are not the norm, but the exception...