I plan to drive to Fort Bragg starting around 8am leaving from Palo Alto/Los Altos area next Monday 4/21. Considering morning traffic is it best to stay on 101 or take 280 and Calif 1 to the bridge? Is there a better alternative through the Oakland area?
Your advice will be apprecited. I tend to lean toward 280. We will be able to use the Car Pool Lanes.

Car Pool lanes end just north of Palo Alto on 280, so if you're counting on that, it won't help much.

Have you thought about leaving an hour later at 9am? That way most folks who need to be at work by 9 will be off the road.

Either 280 or 101 will be better than any East Bay alternative. Traffic is even worse over there.

I'd stick with 280. You can go the direct route to Highway 1, which is actually 19th Avenue as it runs through the city. It can sometimes be slow.

Or you could try an alternate route taking 280 to the San Jose Avenue exit. which becomes Dolores. Left on 16th St; right on Castro which becomes Divisadero. Up Divisadero, turning left on Lombard which gets you to the GG Bridge.

Either way has signals. There really isn't a highway speed route to the GG Bridge.

We drove the route from the Palo Alto area to north of SF many times while our son was at Sonoma State. We tried every possible combination and permutation of routes and travel times when we visited him. We finally determined that the best time on a weekday was to leave around 9 am and travel straight up 280, which turns into 19th Ave. in SF. Continue to the GG bridge, as SFImporter suggested. Definitely scratch the Oakland/East Bay idea.

Listen to one of the talk radio stations, KGO at 810 AM or KCBS at 740 AM, for frequent traffic reports.

Thanks everbody and I guess 280 is the route we take. We were just up in SF today with relatives and they came back 19 ave and 280 at 4pm and there seem to be no problems. Everybody agrees that the 280 route is the best.

To ease the shock ... the GG Bridge toll is now $5.00!!!! (you pay when you return to S.F.)

Just curious--do you drive all the way to Willits and cross over on 20 or do you turn off at Cloverdale and go through Boonville???
I have taken both routes over the years and still haven't decided what one is the most convenient.
Wondered what you and other travelers think??

Traffic in the morning going nortbound on the 280 should not be much of a problem since you will be going in the non-commute direction. Of course 19th Avenue will most likely be a pain. The best alternative is 237 to 680 to 24 to 580 then 101. I believe that 680 has a carpool lane at least up to 580 however you wouls also be going in the non-commte direction as well. Themain advantage is avoiding te mess on 19th Avenue. Once you get one stoplight on that road, your in trouble.