Alternate route to bypass stop-and-crawl I-5 in North San Diego County...

[Brent Jonas]

Hi All,

Yesterday afternoon, I made the drive from Irvine (I-405 @ Jamboree)
to San Diego (Balboa Avenue, or former CA 274) to meet up with a
couple of friends for dinner and drinks. I left Irvine @ 1:10 P.M.,
and didn't get to Balboa Avenue until 4:20. Yes, the drive took a
whopping 3 hours and 10 minutes. As you can all imagine, that left me
feeling quite drained, at least until the first round of drinks
started around 7:20, while watching the Padres/Braves game in Pacific
Beach.

Specifically, it was the stretch between the first exit in Oceanside,
all the way down to Del Mar, that took an astonishing 1 hr/20 minutes
to drive. There was also some stop-and-go in southern Orange County,
but nothing quite as bad as the stretch through Northern San Diego
County. This is the 5th time that I sat in similar congestion,
driving to San Diego along I-5.

Today, I did the same drive all over again (I'm now at a coffee house
in Coronado), but a 'lil studying of a north San Diego county street
map allowed me to eye a possible alternate route; El Camino Real,
which starts a little north of CA 78, and continues down toward Solana
Beach. I think that's a distance of about 15 miles. I decided to try
it, since the same type of horrible congestion once again appeared
today, starting a mile before the 78 freeway in Oceanside.

El Camino Real is quite efficient, featuring at least 4 lanes (with
stretches of 6 and even 8 lanes) divided by a landscaped median, it
has numerous traffic lights, and as far as I could tell, was signed at
mostly 55 MPH, except through Encinitas, where the limit drops to 35
MPH. Yes, the waits at the traffic lights can be a bit frustrating,
but it's no where near as bad as the stop-and-crawl congestion along
I-5.

So what was my total drive time? 25 minutes. By the time the route
ends a few miles north of the CA 56 interchange in San Diego, traffic
in the southbound direction usually picks up, as the freeway gains
both one SOV and HOV lane in the southbound direction. Of course, 25
minutes to drive 15 miles isn't a breeze compared to a free-flowing 65
MPH freeway, but it's still a hell of a lot better than spending 1 hr/
20 minutes to drive that same stretch.

I'm glad to have finally discovered a much easier route to traverse
through North San Diego County. I figured that Dave (Scott) drives
I-5 too on a regular basis between OC and SD, so perhaps this could be
news to him. :-)


-Brent

[Steve Sobol]

Post by Brent Jonas
Hi All,
to San Diego (Balboa Avenue, or former CA 274)

Depends on which part of Balboa. Balboa is a long street that reaches at least
from somewhere west of I-5 to I-15 and the Cabrillo Freeway, CA-163. If you
need to get to the eastern portion of Balboa, you can hop on CA-78 or CA-56
in North County and head over to I-15, although you still have to get from
the OC line to one of those freeways. And that route doesn't make sense if
your destination is somewhere close to I-5.

Post by Brent Jonas
Specifically, it was the stretch between the first exit in Oceanside,
all the way down to Del Mar, that took an astonishing 1 hr/20 minutes

Well, CA-78 ends in Oceanside... just remember that if it's rush hour, there
will be traffic on I-15 south of CA-78 in Escondido. However, if it's
afternoon rush hour, the backup will be northbound, so you're ok.

Post by Brent Jonas
El Camino Real is quite efficient, featuring at least 4 lanes (with
stretches of 6 and even 8 lanes) divided by a landscaped median, it
has numerous traffic lights, and as far as I could tell, was signed at
mostly 55 MPH, except through Encinitas, where the limit drops to 35
MPH. Yes, the waits at the traffic lights can be a bit frustrating,
but it's no where near as bad as the stop-and-crawl congestion along
I-5.

Yeah, that's the same reasoning that often leads me to hop off I-15 in
Escondido and follow Centre City Parkway instead.

[Scott en Aztlán]

Post by Brent Jonas
to San Diego (Balboa Avenue, or former CA 274) to meet up with a
and didn't get to Balboa Avenue until 4:20. Yes, the drive took a
whopping 3 hours and 10 minutes.

Over an hour more than Amtrak. :)

Post by Brent Jonas
I'm glad to have finally discovered a much easier route to traverse
through North San Diego County. I figured that Dave (Scott) drives
I-5 too on a regular basis between OC and SD, so perhaps this could be
news to him. :-)

Well, it is news to me, but since I no longer need to go back and
forth to Tucson my trips through San Diego County are much fewer and
farther between.

In general I would duck off the 5 at the 78, cut across to the 15, and
take the 15 south to 8 east. If I was leaving on a Friday I would wait
until after 7:00 PM because of the nightmare traffic.

The last time I went to SD, I took the Pacific Surfliner. I cannot
describe what it feels like to sit there reclined in your comfy seat
with lots of legroom, sipping your favorite beverege and looking out
the window at all the cars mired in traffic. :)

[Paul D. DeRocco]

Post by Brent Jonas
El Camino Real is quite efficient, featuring at least 4 lanes (with
stretches of 6 and even 8 lanes) divided by a landscaped median, it
has numerous traffic lights, and as far as I could tell, was signed at
mostly 55 MPH, except through Encinitas, where the limit drops to 35
MPH. Yes, the waits at the traffic lights can be a bit frustrating,
but it's no where near as bad as the stop-and-crawl congestion along
I-5.
So what was my total drive time? 25 minutes. By the time the route
ends a few miles north of the CA 56 interchange in San Diego, traffic
in the southbound direction usually picks up, as the freeway gains
both one SOV and HOV lane in the southbound direction. Of course, 25
minutes to drive 15 miles isn't a breeze compared to a free-flowing 65
MPH freeway, but it's still a hell of a lot better than spending 1 hr/
20 minutes to drive that same stretch.

...

I've done that, but it took quite a bit longer than 25 minutes, thanks to
all those lights. Still, more pleasant than the freeway.

Last weekend, I just tried the obvious, the old US-101 along the coast. Most
of it was wide open (Saturday afternoon), although it slowed along the
beaches (no surprise), and there was one bog coming into Del Mar. I took it
all the way into La Jolla.

It's funny how the brake lights start exactly at the first Oceanside exit.

[Mark F]

Post by Paul D. DeRocco

Post by Brent Jonas
El Camino Real is quite efficient, featuring at least 4 lanes (with
stretches of 6 and even 8 lanes) divided by a landscaped median, it
has numerous traffic lights, and as far as I could tell, was signed at
mostly 55 MPH, except through Encinitas, where the limit drops to 35
MPH. Yes, the waits at the traffic lights can be a bit frustrating,
but it's no where near as bad as the stop-and-crawl congestion along
I-5.
So what was my total drive time? 25 minutes. By the time the route
ends a few miles north of the CA 56 interchange in San Diego, traffic
in the southbound direction usually picks up, as the freeway gains
both one SOV and HOV lane in the southbound direction. Of course, 25
minutes to drive 15 miles isn't a breeze compared to a free-flowing 65
MPH freeway, but it's still a hell of a lot better than spending 1 hr/
20 minutes to drive that same stretch.

I've done that, but it took quite a bit longer than 25 minutes, thanks to
all those lights. Still, more pleasant than the freeway.
Last weekend, I just tried the obvious, the old US-101 along the coast. Most
of it was wide open (Saturday afternoon), although it slowed along the
beaches (no surprise), and there was one bog coming into Del Mar. I took it
all the way into La Jolla.
It's funny how the brake lights start exactly at the first Oceanside exit.

...

I go down to the Oceanside area from Orange County every couple of weeks
on Saturday afternoons. Usually traffic isn't too bad outside of summer
(I exit I-5 at 76 or 78, depending on traffic, so I don't know how bad
it gets south of there). From June to September (and holiday weekends),
you hit a wall of traffic at the Coast Hwy exit, as you mentioned above.

One time I tried old 101 on a trip to San Diego when I-5 jammed up in
Carlsbad, and while the traffic wasn't too bad, the timing of the
traffic lights was awful. I think I hit a red on almost all of them,
almost like it was to discourage I-5 bypass traffic on this route. That
was around 5 years ago, so maybe the lights are synched better now.