LA Traffic Shortcuts

[surferdrew]

Having grown up in LA, I've spent a lot of time in traffic. I've always tried to find shortcuts through traffic, even getting some great routes from a helicopter cop whose daughter I dated back in high school.

Was wondering if you have your favorite shortcuts for your commute or regular drive?

I used to commute from Glendale to Downtown LA and the 2 to the 5 to the 110 interchange was pretty beastly during morning traffic. So....I'd get off at Stadium Way off the 5 South and cut through Elysian Park next to Dodger Stadium. I could either cut through Chinatown straight to downtown from there or hop back on the 110 if it looked like it was moving. It only saved about 5 minutes but was great to get out of traffic and pass through the park next to Dodger Stadium every morning.

[havasu]

It is great how a change of scenery will make your drive seem so much better!

[weirdboy]

Yeah I do that cut through Chinatown too sometimes.

Another one is that sometimes the 110 N gets jammed up all the way from downtown back down to around the 105 when there's an accident, but Broadway runs parallel to 110 pretty much all the way downtown and is often moving at a faster pace, despite the stop lights and whatnot.

On the west side I sometimes take La Cienega when the 405 is stopped, assuming I am trying to get to e.g. Hollywood or Beverly Hills.

[JLCinLA]

When I worked in Gardena The morning drive from Hollywood at 6:30 AM was good, about 20 minutes on the 101 and the 110.
The afternoon drive home would take anywhere from 35 to 90 minutes and sometimes more.
I found that taking Western ave. or Vermont straight through would give me a consistent 40 minute drive home, maybe 45 minutes on friday

[seanoj]

avoid 110 from downtown to hollywood = Temple St E to Virgil N to HW/Sunset blvd.