<p>Ccers who travel that area frequently-
I am looking for advice as to the best way to approach Davis on a Friday afternoon. Heading up from the central coast. Mapquest and google maps lead you through the east bay. We had considered going up 101 and crossing over to hwy 5 at Paso Robles. We will be pulling a horse trailer. Due to the length of the drive we would hit northern Ca late afternoon.
We will hit traffic but which way might we hit less traffic?</p>
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<p>I don’t travel that route very frequently, but I’d cut over to I-5 somewhere - Paso Robles or maybe Atascadero. I’d avoid driving the through the Bay Area during rush hour, especially pulling a horse trailer.</p>
<p>You will have traffic wherever you go. I am familiar with 5 to 680 and up, across the Carquinez Straits, over the bridge. Can’t you change your times? It used to be kind of o.k., years ago. It is packed now, anytime I have had to drive that route.</p>
<p>I agree with Overseas that it’s going to be very tricky to find anytime you can make that drive and avoid a traffic mess. You could just stay on 101 to 680, which will take you over the Benicia Bridge then up to 80 near Fairfield. I would really work on finding a way to time it so you could make it through the Bay Area during mid-day rather than late afternoon.
If you go up 5 you will need to go all the way up to Sacramento and loop back down on 80…Given the awful rush hour traffic in Sacramento that’s not a good alternative either.
Good luck sorting this out!</p>
<p>Well, if there are 2 or more of you in the car, you can choose the car pool lane.</p>
<p>Let me say, however, that Sacramento/Bay Area traffic is nothing compared to LA traffic. The worst traffic is typically heading East on I80 in the afternoon, from the Bay Area to Sacramento. You might be better off coming up through Sacramento and heading west to Davis.</p>
<p>But, still, it may be heavy, but it really isn’t terrible.</p>
<p>
If you’re pulling a horse trailer, for the sake of all the other motorists, please don’t use the car pool lane. I hate it when I get in a car pool lane behind someone pulling a trailer or some big truck/bus who frequently isn’t going the speed limit and is stacking up the cars behind them with no way to pass the offending slow vehicle without exiting the car pool lane perhaps miles away when it permits lane changes, going around, then pulling back in.</p>
<p>(end rant on slow vehicles in the car pool lane)</p>
<p>Check [Sigalert.com</a> Traffic Map](<a href=“http://www.sigalert.com%5DSigalert.com”>http://www.sigalert.com) on the day-of-week and times you expect to be going through the area to see where the traffic jams are likely to be. (Of course, crashes and the like can cause traffic jams that are not in the “normal” places.)</p>
<p>680 northbound in the afternoon is likely to have heavy traffic.</p>
<p>Not clear where you are coming from. There is a lot of traffic from the Bay Area toward the Sierras on Friday afternoon. If you are coming from the South, 5 N to 80. Depending on the time, you will hit some traffic but it’s not terrible, maybe 40 minutes to an hour from downtown Sacramento to Davis (normally would be 25 to 30 minutes)</p>
<p>Coming from Santa Barbara so must start out on the 101.
I think we will cut over to 5 at Paso Robles. While the crossover is not ideal it is the route we are somewhat familiar with.
We have to pick up the horse in the morning so we won’t be able to get a crack of dawn start.</p>
<p>We live in Sacramento and I have frequent business in the Bay Area, in addition to a D in college on the Penninsula. If it were me, I would go I-5 to Sacramento. I would take I-80 West to Davis. Davis is about 20 minutes.</p>
<p>You will hit traffic in Sacramento but it will be minor compared to the nightmare that is the outbound traffic anywhere in the Bay Area. I have spent far too many Fridays crawling along trying to get home to Sacramento.</p>
<p>Right, you definitely don’t want to be heading eastbound on 80 or 580 anytime after 2 p.m. on a Friday.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Trucks and Cars with Trailers:
Any vehicle towing a trailer, large trucks, and other vehicles subject to a 55 MPH speed limit cannot use an HOV lane regardless of the number of occupants.
[\quote]
*
No trailers in the car pool lanes!!!</p>
<p>And I concur, get over to I5 anywhere and approach Davis from the east. I5 won’t get you into the worst of the Sacto traffic before you hit I80 . If there is a rush hour, find a park and let the horse walk a bit rather than hit the stop and go.</p>
<p>I agree about the 5 and then heading West to Davis on the 80. Or wait until after 6.</p>
<p>I would also agree that as bad as it gets, it is never the “kill me now!” quality that is Los Ageless. It’s slow, but you can’t see just how hopeless it is.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone
Back home now. Tired but the drive went pretty well. We crossed over to hwy 5 at Paso Robles and went through Sacramento. We got to Davis around 5 :30 pm. We had some traffic before Stockton and a bit through Sac and on 80 west but nothing too bad. I think we dropped to 45 mph which isn’t bad for rush hour.The eastbound side of 80 was packed so we were happy we took the Sac route.</p>