DRIVING TIPS: SMART FOXES vs. HERDS OF SHEEP.

DRIVING TIPS: SMART FOXES vs. HERDS OF SHEEP.

How do you get from A to Z? Driving tips to bypass heavy traffic and get there on time. SMART FOXES vs. HERDS OF SHEEP.

The powers-that-be in L.A. need to start finding ways to redirect traffic to UNCLOG freeways and main roads (see my post "WHY L.A. traffic sucks: that "monster," the 405 freeway..."). And angelenos need to stop being herds of sheep clogging the freeways and main roads and start thinking of CREATIVE ways to bypass traffic. There are OTHER WAYS of getting there. Believe me. Forget your high school geometry. In L.A., the shortest distance between two points is NOT a straight line.

Suppose you are in Marina del Rey (Washington at Pacific) and you need to get to West Hollywood by 6:00 and it's 5:00pm. How do you make it?

Take I-10 East, exit La Cienega North and voila`?!? That'll take you two hours, if you're lucky! That's the herds of sheep way. That's WHY is is CLOGGED. What's the SMART FOX way of getting there?

Some people swear by Venice, others swear by Olympic. The truth is, neither is a good alternative unless they implement my idea of turning them into "virtual freeways" by keeping the lights GREEN for a longer period of time (5 to 10 minutes).

Here's what you do.

You are on Pacific and Washington Blvd. right by the ocean. And you're starting to despair (I'll never make it!!"). Take it easy. Have no fear, italianesco is here, and will tell you how to get there in no time at all.

Go East on Washington Blvd. Make a left on Lincoln. Go past Venice Blvd. And then--careful! don't miss it!--make a right on PALMS. Yes, PALMS!! Go east on Palms. At Penmar, Palms jogs. So make a right on Penmar and then an immediate left right back onto Palms. But STAY ON PALMS! After Walgrove, Palms widens a bit and starts getting wonderful. And the most important thing: up to now, NO traffic! NO traffic at all!!

And here's the truly, really WONDERFUL THING ABOUT PALMS: unlike a lot of other small streets, Palms has an OVERPASS over the 405!!! Can you believe it? An overpass!!! Go right over it, and once you are on the other side of the 405, you're half way there!

Stay with us. It gets interesting...

Once you get to I-10, guesswhat? Palms has an UNDERPASS under I-10!!! An underpass! Can you believe it? Whoever did Palms was a GENIUS! Palms is L.A. DONE RIGHT. If ALL the streets that cross the 405 and I-10 were like Palms, there'd be hardly any traffic problem on the Westside. (see my post "WHY L.A. traffic sucks #2: bad (or not exactly forward-looking) design")

After I-10, you wonder, "Where in the world did lovely Palms go?!? It was great!!" Well, guesswhat? It turned into National. And National is a heavy-duty traffic street. Stay away from it! Make a left onto Castle Heights Avenue. Then make a right on Cattaraugus Avenue. Then make a left on S. Robertson Blvd. A bit of traffic here, but don't panic! As soon as you get to Olympic, MAKE A RIGHT! Here--way, way, way East of the 405--three-lane Olympic ROCKS!! Go East on Olympic and then make a left on Crescent Heights, and you've made it!! We got you there!!! And right on time! (ahem... Give or take a minute, of course... In L.A. you NEVER know...)

So that's the SMART FOX WAY OF GETTING THERE! You get on the roads that rock, not on the roads that suck! If you'd rather be stuck for two hours on I-10 East or Venice or Olympic like a herd of sheep, be our guest!! Hope you have plenty of good music with you or a good audio book, or, since you're not really going to be driving but going bumper to bumper, then, yes, why not? go ahead and talk on your cell phone all you want for two hours. At least, it'll keep you sane... That's what sheep do when they are in a herd, anyway, go "beehhhhhhhhh!!" The SMART FOX will get there quicker than you and win the prize... No "sense of entitlement," no rudeness, just smartness. That's all it takes...


-----------------------------
Make it viral. Make it vital...

digg 
reddit 
del.icio.us

-----------------------------

WHY L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION #3

On 4/28/06, calwatch wrote:

calwatch has left a new comment on your post "WHY L.A. traffic sucks #2: bad (or not exactly forward-looking) design ":

Once again, this idea [keeping light GREEN from 3 to 5 minutes for long stretches over many intersections] , while interesting, ignores the fact that at those side streets there are cars and pedestrians that want to cross the street. And they won't be able to do so in the hours you mention. The Laurel Canyon Freeway (SR-170) and the Beverly Hills Freeway (SR-2) were really the solution to this problem, but you can blame Jerry Brown for that cancellation. I'd like to see a test, though, on Wilshire for a five minute green time similar to roads in Orange County and the Inland Empire, and watch what happens.

Posted by calwatch to L.A. traffic sucks: Let's fix it! at 4/27/2006 11:54:32 PM

italianesco replies:

Thanks again for your new comments.

No, I did not ignore "the fact that at those side streets there are cars and pedestrians that want to cross the street. And they won't be able to do so in the hours you mention." I did say that some kind of north-south uninterrupted traffic would have to be allowed for traffic to flow east-west uninterrupted. Overpasses, or better, underpasses, might solve this problem. The pedestrians can EASILY be take care of with skywalks or pedestrian crossing tunnels. Many American cities already have them and use them.

Yes, I, too, would "like to see a test [...] on Wilshire for a five minute green time similar to roads in Orange County and the Inland Empire, and watch what happens." But I'd like to see it not only on Wilshire but on Olympic, on Pico and on Venice as well (Santa Monica seems too complicated to try it there). This is the thing: no one seems to be willing to try any really INNOVATIVE ideas. At the same time, they don't realize that old and tired ideas (widening freeways, building subways, etc.) will not work. Or they might work temporarily but not in the long run. An overweight person might take a pill to lower his cholesterol. But unless he changes his lifestyle and starts to diet and exercise to get those arteries flowing, he is doomed. American metropolitcan areas are doomed to gridlock unless they start trying something new.

I wasn't aware of the Laurel Canyon Freeway (SR-170) and the Beverly Hills Freeway (SR-2) projects you mentioned, nor was I aware that Jerry Brown had been responsible for their cancellation. This should give you an idea of the DAMAGE that politicians in office can cause to the future of a city, a state, a country. Jerry Brown was in office a long, long time ago, wasn't he? I am amazed at the lack of foresight. Politicians and constituents seem to be caught up in the present and lose sight of what things might be like 20 years down the road. Whatever solutions are adopted to solve the traffic problem in L.A. should envision a city of L.A. 20 or 30 years from now. How will the current system be able to handle 3, 5 or 10 million more cars? SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE.

----------------------------

Make it viral. Make it vital...

digg 
reddit 
del.icio.us