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Driving from San Diego to Woodland Hills on a Saturday-Est Travel Time?

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Driving from San Diego to Woodland Hills on a Saturday-Est Travel Time?

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Old Jan 6, 2011, 10:25 pm
  #1  
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Driving from San Diego to Woodland Hills on a Saturday-Est Travel Time?

Hi all,

We have some family in Woodland hills that we were thinking of visiting while we visited SD.

How long would it take on a Saturday Afternoon (returning Saturday evening) from SD to Woodland hills?

Googlemap says 2+ hrs, 4+ hrs in Traffic.
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Old Jan 7, 2011, 12:40 am
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San Diego to Woodland Hills in 2 hours? Tend to doubt, even in the best of times and even taking the toll road for the few miles where it helps.

I'd say to allocate more like 2 1/2 hours minimum if there are at least 2 of you in the car so you are a carpool AND traffic is light. Make sure you follow traffic on the radio so you know if you need to detour. If there are no traffic problems, I'd tend to take 5 to the Hollywood freeway.
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Old Jan 7, 2011, 12:44 am
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Originally Posted by RichardInSF
San Diego to Woodland Hills in 2 hours? Tend to doubt, even in the best of times and even taking the toll road for the few miles where it helps.

I'd say to allocate more like 2 1/2 hours minimum if there are at least 2 of you in the car so you are a carpool AND traffic is light. Make sure you follow traffic on the radio so you know if you need to detour. If there are no traffic problems, I'd tend to take 5 to the Hollywood freeway.
Agreed. I'd allow at least three hours, depending on time of departure from SAN. If you get to Woodland Hills early, you can always take a breather for a coffee somewhere...
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Old Jan 8, 2011, 3:23 am
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I live in West Hills (adjacent to NW of Woodland Hills) and I'd allocate 3 hours to get from San Diego to Woodland Hills, and be pleasantly surprised if it took less.

As for the advice to tune your radio to a traffic station, I'd agree...
...and recommend KNX 1070 the local Los Angeles CBS all-news radio station that does "Traffic on the 5s" (:05, :15, :25, :35, :45, :55)

While the shortest route is I-5 to the 101;

be prepared to take alternates ranging from mild:

...avoiding Downtown/Hollywood traffic on the 101 by continuing on I-5 to Highway 134 West which will turn into US-101.

to major:

I-5 to I-405 to US-101
....cutting West to avoid Northern Orange County and Downtown, but can get tangled in LAX & Westside traffic.
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Old Jan 8, 2011, 4:07 pm
  #5  
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With all this, my Wife and I are scuttling the Woodland Hills Family visit. 3+ hours one way (6 hours in a day return) with 2 kids. No thanks!
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Old Jan 13, 2011, 8:22 am
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Scuttling probably wise. Not real close family members, I gather :-)

Google Maps says 2 hrs., 31 mins. using I-5 (4 hrs. 10 mns. with traffic) from San Diego (no specific address, so usually means downtown) to unspecified address in Woodland Hills. While their estimates are usually pretty generous, I agree with others that in this case one should allow a good 3 hrs. (you'd be amazed where and when construction can take place, etc.), especially since you are considering this as a one-day trip. It appears that Google Maps has you taking the toll road near Laguna Niguel. I don't see the need for that on a Saturday.

I think it would be an exhausting trip to drive up in the afternoon and back the same day, with time for a visit in between. I personally wouldn't even consider it unless I could head north in the morning or, better yet, spend the night.

Could you meet them in between, such as someplace in Orange County, or even downtown L.A.? You could even consider taking Amtrak to Union Station and meeting them there. As someone who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, I could guess that they may not necessarily be familiar with the sites of downtown (e.g., Angels Flight, Grand Central Market, Bradbury Building, Olvera Street, Grammy Museum). Of course, even that may well not be feasible if you can't leave SD until the afternoon. You could always suggest they drive to SD.
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