Crucial Tips for Navigating LA Traffic

If you ’ve spent half your life navigating the clogged arteria of the sprawl Los Angeles landscape painting , you come up with all sorts of ways to play around it . Or if you ca n’t , you at least cypher out a twosome cheat code to make the life - beat ordeal more liveable . We ’ve rounded up a slew of utilitarian tips for owning America ’s most engorged cityscape – you ’ll feel the twist in your hair before long enough .

Avoid driving in gridlock hours (duh)

It may seem obvious , but this is Rule # 1 of enjoying LA . Whatever you do , stay put off the street from approximately 3:30 to 7:30pm ( and 7:30 to 9:30am ) every weekday . Of of course , if you ’re convert , this may be more difficult , but it ’s not impossible if you , say , hit the gymnasium or get a insect bite to eat before reach the mineral pitch . Face a flowing freeway at 8 pm rather than leave at 5 pm and be lodge in a soul - draining miasm for hours .

Ditch the 405 (another duh)

We ’re not indisputable what Clive Barker hellspawn civically designed Los Angeles , but the 405 might honestly be a demonic curse cast on the human backwash – even with the creation of those spare lanes a few years ago . If you need to avoid over-crowding on the 405 , the good pick are cut over the Hill on either Coldwater or Laurel Canyons . Both are very badly kept secrets , but hey , you might see Crosby , Stills , and/or Nash .

And take Sepulveda Boulevard instead

Why take the 405 when Sepulveda not only parallels it but move faster ? It may be a little bit windier , but you ’re still trace the expressway in the direction you involve to be . Despite being vote the # 1 best dealings shortcut in a 2012 in a survey of 3000 Angelenos , it ’s still somehow a dependable path to take .

But avoid them both if you’re going to South Bay

Do n’t even chance the morning rush or the airport traffic – take Vista del Mar , Pershing Drive , and Highland Ave instead of Sepulveda or the 405 to quash any of that mess . And do n’t block about Aviation Boulevard either ; it run parallel to Sepulveda , you may catch it from the 405 and 105 , and it has a quarter of the traffic at rush hour .

Use the carpool lane

If you did n’t know this already , the carpool lane does n’t only operate during peak hours , but 24/7 ( it ’s easy to forget about it when you ’re so used to tug by yourself ) . And if youdon’thave a passenger with you , the desired Green Clean Air Vehicle decal grants you access to an alternating universe on the 110 , 134 , 405 and eastern dower of the 10 where an enviro - ride can fly along in the relative freedom of the carpool lane . It ’s kind of a bummer that 85,000 decal roof has already been reached , but you could still put yourself on a waiting list in the hope of catch one finally .

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Of course , to expend any of this advice you need a car , one that can navigate freeways , gridlock , and even the unbelievably rare , in reality open LA route . Drop by your helpfulSoCal Honda Dealerand check out the raw Honda Fit – summary enough to snag , but large enough to match five Friend , with the gas gas mileage to get you far , far away from the busy city .

Use the Waze app to zigzag through sidestreets like a pro

Yes yes , a lot of you detest this app . WE KNOW . It ’s not fun to have a parade of loud , smelly cars rerouted to your street in the former morning because the thruway are hellish . And what ’s up with all those prompts to make “ suicide left ” against dealings on interfering street , Waze ? But which is the less evil ? Traffic that looks like a parking lot , or this app that is literally designed to reduce over-crowding by suggesting side streets to zig and zag through base on literal time circumstance ?

Tune in for SigAlerts

Issued by your chum at the California Highway Patrol , Sig Alerts are one of the last defenses keeping you from languishing on the single open lane on the freeway for hour , even though they ’re often forgot about in this age of Google Maps . Whether it ’s an accident or a motorcade , a Sig Alert will be broadcast on wireless , TV , their web site , and sign of the zodiac along the highway . Most people get over reference a couple of different traffic apps to make certain their their route is rightfully vindicated or in terrible condition – throw Sig Alert into that mix ( especially because they have handy traffic cam ) .

Fountain street is like the magic carpet to Hollywood

Take Fountain Street ; it ’s the fastest street going east to Mae West or west to east – as fight back to any of the others like Sunset or Hollywood Boulevard . It was also actress Bette Davis ’ solution when she was asked about the near way a young actress could get into Hollywood . ( “ Take Fountain . ” )

Don’t miss your flight; take La Cienega

Do not . DO NOT . Take . The freeway . You will be a sit duck . An raging , sit duck’s egg who know that if the dealings does n’t cause you to miss your trajectory , those TSA security measures stemma unquestionably will . Seriously : though it can be rocky up until Rodeo , after that the amphetamine limit increases and it opens up . It ’s basically LA ’s hidden freeway .

Leave 45 minutes before or after a baseball game

– or really any highway clogging event . Be aware when the Dodgers are dally , when the President is in town , or when the crowd that Weird Al pulls in at the Hollywood Bowl capitulum to their cars .

Avoid the 10

Take a side route like Olympic Street or else , though the 10 going Rebecca West into Santa Monica at rush time of day is the thruway ’s save grace as you sail by against dealings .