Best route from Santa Monica to Pico-Robertson by car during the evening rush hour?
October 27, 2011 8:07 PM   Subscribe

Are there any special magical shortcuts I can take when commuting by car from Santa Monica to Pico-Robertson during the evening rush hour?

I just started a new job in Santa Monica (90401), near the Third Street Promenade. I live in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood (90035), just south of Beverly Hills. The morning commute isn't bad (about 20 min.), but coming back was rough -- today it took me an hour and seven minutes to drive home -- 8 miles from my office.

Today was the first time I tried this commute, so I hope the extra-long drive was due to my n00bishness, and that there exists a slightly faster way to get home. The hairiest part seems to be around the 405, between Centinela and Sepulveda -- I would love to get through that section without completely losing my will to live.

Should I resign myself to the slightly more roundabout, 10-mph-average trip via freeway? Are there any awesome secret routes I could sneak into on that side of the 405 (and that you'd be willing to spill here or in MeMail)?
posted by estherbester to Travel & Transportation around Los Angeles, CA (13 answers total)
 
What route did you take exactly? I think Olympic is usually okay except for between Cloverfield & Sepulveda.
posted by univac at 8:22 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


I don't have any awesome secret routes to share with you, since I commute between Santa Monica and the Valley. However, I can share my strategy!

I have a few possible routes home, the shortest being the freeway, then sepulveda, then a few backroads routes through the hills. There is no one best route, it depends on the traffic that day, but my preference is for the shortest route. I have learned where the choke points are for each route, and before I leave work, I check google maps (or sigalert) to see the conditions at each choke point. If the freeway choke point is bad, then I check sepulveda. If the sepulveda choke point is bad, then I just take one of the back roads routes. You will have to find a few different routes, in order to build up that library, but if you view your drive home as an exploration of possible alternates, then it is less frustrating than sitting in traffic. So go and explore! Find possible routes! Also, consult co-workers who live east of the 405 and see what routes they take. Try them out, and add them (or part of them) to your library.
posted by Joh at 8:26 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


Don't get on the freeway! The sad news is, it's TERRIBLE right there and there aren't very many shortcuts. This is why I left Santa Monica -- if I had to get out of SM after 2 pm, it was just a killer. The area around the 405 is like HELL ON EARTH, traffic-wise. If it makes you feel any better, I thought traffic was WAY worse than usual today, although I don't know why. It was like freaky-crazy bad.

I have some advice but like Joh says, it's really just trial and error, because everyone else is trying new shortcuts all the time, too. First: if you're going to take Pico, I'd cut south from wherever you are to Ocean Park, and take THAT until it turns into Pico, instead of taking Pico directly from 4th or wherever you are. Ocean Park turns into Pico at Gateway, right before the freeway, and it might feel weird to go more south than you need to at the beginning, but it helps to just avoid as much of Pico as possible.

Overall, I think Olympic is faster than Pico, though, but NOTHING is as terrible as Santa Monica. DEAR GOD, don't get on Santa Monica.

I have a friend who manages to get from south SM to Pico-Robertson by taking some kind of allegedly magical route where she takes Ocean Park to Bundy, Bundy to National, and then cuts through Cheviot Hills to get to Robertson. I don't know if it's any QUICKER, but at least you're moving, so give that a shot.

When I was commuting -- I work from home now -- SERIOUSLY all everyone would talk about every week was the new route they found to and from work. Every time someone got a new one, it was big news, so definitely ask your co-workers.
posted by Countess Sandwich at 8:31 PM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]


Hi neighbor! (90035-er here) For what it's worth, Thursdays are generally the worst traffic days, at least near Pico-Robertson, and traffic definitely seemed worse than usual tonight. Though some people prefer Olympic, I feel like Pico works better for me (my work is east of the 405 though, thank goodness).

Countess Sandwich's post reminded me that you can also turn off Pico onto Manning, which is a mini-freeway from Pico to National, which gets you pretty close to South Robertson.

I think routes involving Olympic, Pico, or Venice are your best bets; stay away from Wilshire or Santa Monica Blvd. Good luck!
posted by mogget at 8:39 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Where in Santa Monica?

Everyone else is TOTALLY correct. But. If you are close to Sunset I would take that and then cut way over either on Bundy or somewhere by UCLA (Veteran?) if that choke point on Sunset at the 405 proved reasonable.

If I felt spiffy, I'd take Sunset all the way over than shoot to Pico via Doheny. Do not attempt Sunset through Weho. Just Don't.

Otherwise, Olympic. Or Pico.

Even in heavy traffic, I think Venice moves just fine. Also, Washington kinda rocks.

Sometimes with the crazy side streets (like Motor through Cheviot Hills, Palms after the 405 to get you to Motor) you must evaluate the stop signs and traffic lights. Sometimes the traffic-ridden roads are faster than the damn stop signs every block.
posted by jbenben at 9:36 PM on October 27, 2011


I work near the Promenade too. I don't try to get from work to east of Centinela anytime between about 3 and 9 on weekdays. You think it's bad now? Try Valentine's day or NBA playoffs. OMG.

Sorry, this is just life around here. Everyone has their little magic beliefs about their favorite streets and stuff, and maybe that keeps them sane, but ultimately it just takes a really, really long time to get home no matter what. If there were a way that were significantly faster, everyone would take it, and then it wouldn't be faster anymore. If you want things to get better, be vocal with your congresscritter about light rail on the westside, because until there are alternatives things are just going to keep getting worse.

If we sell our house and move out of the LA area entirely, this will be why, and I really like LA, so forgive me if I am a little grouchy about this. The traffic over here is shocking, and people drive like maniacs because of it, and then it becomes even worse.
posted by troublesome at 10:45 PM on October 27, 2011


If you're going to go all the way down to Venice or Washington blvd, you should cut across from SM by taking 20th to Pico, then go up to 23rd and take that (it turns into Walgrove) and it has a nice run with few lights all the way to Venice Blvd.

Then again, a lot of people seem to know about this shortcut lately. But it's imperative to avoid Lincoln blvd going south at rush hour.
posted by egeanin at 10:49 PM on October 27, 2011


Two things I learned from a similar commute:

1) Your coworkers are going to be a great resource, ask around.

2) LINCOLN IS NOT A SHORTCUT TO ANYTHING.

Honestly, I'd take the dreaded 405 before going on Lincoln and that's really saying something. Good luck!
posted by Space Kitty at 11:38 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I do the reverse commute. Live in Venice, work in West LA. Some tips.

1) Avoid Lincoln
2) Avoid the 10
3) Venice Blvd is pretty fluid in the afternoon, but is south of you. Try taking Pacific down to it, but avoid Main and (again) Lincoln.
4) Santa Monica Blvd is to be avoided at all costs
5) Sepulveda can be quite useful

I'd give Pico and Olympic a try. I don't have much experience with them, but they could be extremely useful.

As you develop your favorite route, I'd keep google maps open on your phone and enable the traffic feature. Study it at intersections and when you're in gridlock. What streets are in the green and how did you end up on a red one? A useful tool to help craft your commute.

But don't listen to what everyone else here says about the commute on the Westside. My morning drive to work is a breeze, but I am in the office at 3:30 AM everyday.
posted by Dr.James.Orin.Incandenza at 5:15 AM on October 28, 2011


Best answer: If there's any constant in life, it's that Olympic is always better than Pico. ALWAYS.
posted by Burritos Inc. at 7:30 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]


Is getting a bike out of the question? 8 miles is a pretty managable distance, even if you just go a couple days a week. Looking at google bike directions shows a number of bike routes and lanes between your origin and destination. Passing a giant line of cars in your bike is really fun.
posted by rockindata at 7:45 AM on October 28, 2011


Response by poster: Semi-followup: The first night I'd taken Broadway to Centinela (which was fast), then moved down to Olympic (a frightening mess). When I couldn't stand it any longer (somewhere before Sawtelle), I turned down some side street that got me to National, and it was still rough after that.

Today I tried a route that was suggested to me via MeMail. I won't divulge the exact route here ;) except to say that it took me a bit north of where the heaviest gridlock was. Of course, Mondays are typically traffic-light, so I'm taking the 25 minutes saved with a grain of salt, though I'm still grateful!

Tomorrow I think I will try a southerly route, like Ocean Park or Venice, as per Countess Sandwich's advice. Once I hit Sepulveda, things get much more tolerable, so the challenge is to get from Bundy to Sepulveda without losing one's sanity...
posted by estherbester at 10:23 PM on October 31, 2011


Response by poster: Well, the tips I got via MeMail were the best, and I can't share those, but I marked a few here that were helpful (Olympic is okay, and OMG so much better than Pico! But both suck real bad near the 405).

The route I took yesterday probably looks deranged when viewed on a map, but it got me home in about 35 minutes. Today I took Olympic, then Pico, because I had to run an errand, and it took me 40 minutes just to get to Westwood. Sure, I'm driving a few miles out of the way, but I can't imagine I'm wasting that much more gas than I do by basically idling for an extra 15-20 minutes (but if I'm wrong on that point, let me know!). And I hate wasting all that time even more than I hate wasting gas.

Anyway, thanks everybody!
posted by estherbester at 12:10 AM on November 4, 2011


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