What time the traffic on I-5 south going downtown San Diego become heavy in the morning?

Question

I live in Encinitas, CA. I will start commuting from here to downtown San Diego pretty soon. What time in the morning the traffic becomes heavy? Around what time I should leave to avoid the traffic?

Answer 1

Hi! That's a healthy commute.

I lived in Encinitas for two years and commuted to Sorrento Valley on the 5 South every day. I found that the 5 was busiest between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm - it wasn't so bad if you left before 6:45 or after 8:15 pm, in my opinion.

On another note, here's a website you can view to see a real-time map of actual traffic conditions on each of San Diego's freeways:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist11/d11tmc/sdmap/showmap.html

I used to view this map and check for sig alerts before leaving every morning. If you see a sig alert on the 5 before you leave, I'd suggest taking the back road to SD (go southeast on Encinitas Blvd until you hit old El Camino). You may be able to avoid the worst of the snarl that way.

Answer 2

i lived in san diego all my life. the first answer is right but in my experience, there was amost always one accident that delayed stuff. this year, or any year, no one know how rain will play a factor. if you can, avoid the cds and listen to traffic reports on the radio so if thinga dont go your way, you can still divert to another highway and hop on the five closer to downtown. consider also when construction is going on cause thats such a hassle.

oh, and carpool lanes arent always open and when they are, sometimes there actually slower than the regular lanes. hope i helped... and dont speed!