Interstate 15 north of Barstow to the State Line

[FredAkbar]

That's when you take a deep breath, turn on the adaptive cruise control, put on an interesting podcast, and relax. You really can't change the stupid drivers around you. If you can, you get off the road, find something interesting to munch, and let the other drivers deal with the road boulders.

Perhaps it is age, but I'm finding the 5 to 10 minutes you get there isn't that significant, unless you're running late for a show/meeting -- and in that case, (a) leave earlier (unless stymied by a slow moving spouse), and (b) you're probably not on one of these long-haul roads in the first place, you're on the 101 in Hollywood instead.

To each their own. I prefer to keep my average speed high to shorten the drive. Those small wins add up; the difference between averaging 65mph and 80mph can save you an hour or more on a long drive (e.g. Bay Area to Vegas/LA).

[ClassicHasClass]

This is my situation every single time I drive on I-5. 

I drive CA 99 on purpose for my Central Valley runs. I hate playing truck-dodgem.

[Max Rockatansky]

This is my situation every single time I drive on I-5. 

I drive CA 99 on purpose for my Central Valley runs. I hate playing truck-dodgem.

Even the four lane part of 99 in Tulare County doesn't have this issue.  Usually you can by a trucks in a handful of minutes and might have 3-4 cars lined up. 

[cahwyguy]

That kind of driving is just plain exhausting.  There are dedicated OHV roads which wear me out less than some of the bumper to bumper 60 MPH stuff that happens I-15 and I-5.  My brain feels like it can't function afterwards and my shoulders tend to get super stiff from the constant battle.   

I'm a pretty fit guy, but I don't feel like I should be exhausted on a segment of highways between Las Vegas and Barstow.  If someone like me is ending up feeling super shitty then how are the other drivers doing while stuck in the same traffic?

My brain wasn't muddled and I didn't get stiff shoulders detouring from Las Vegas down to I-40.  I rather be fresh of mind and body for the rest of the drive home beyond Barstow.  I really think that I'll be taking similar detours on Sunday Las Vegas departures going forward. 

I hear you on that -- remember, I used to commute on the 405. But there's a difference between hours of bumper to bumper (which you can generally predict with Quickmap, and then go around), and the occasional road boulder. I do know the frustration -- I remember when they had lanes closed for construction (or was it an accident) near Mountain Pass the last time I was going out to Vegas.

That's one reason why one doesn't schedule driving back from Las Vegas on a Sunday afternoon. If you must leave on a Sunday, be on the road before 9am. When we're going to Vegas in August, the plan is to drive out as early Friday as possible (and to not be surprised with delays); driving back to LA on Friday should be much less of a problem.

[Max Rockatansky]

That kind of driving is just plain exhausting.  There are dedicated OHV roads which wear me out less than some of the bumper to bumper 60 MPH stuff that happens I-15 and I-5.  My brain feels like it can't function afterwards and my shoulders tend to get super stiff from the constant battle.   

I'm a pretty fit guy, but I don't feel like I should be exhausted on a segment of highways between Las Vegas and Barstow.  If someone like me is ending up feeling super shitty then how are the other drivers doing while stuck in the same traffic?

My brain wasn't muddled and I didn't get stiff shoulders detouring from Las Vegas down to I-40.  I rather be fresh of mind and body for the rest of the drive home beyond Barstow.  I really think that I'll be taking similar detours on Sunday Las Vegas departures going forward. 

I hear you on that -- remember, I used to commute on the 405. But there's a difference between hours of bumper to bumper (which you can generally predict with Quickmap, and then go around), and the occasional road boulder. I do know the frustration -- I remember when they had lanes closed for construction (or was it an accident) near Mountain Pass the last time I was going out to Vegas.

That's one reason why one doesn't schedule driving back from Las Vegas on a Sunday afternoon. If you must leave on a Sunday, be on the road before 9am. When we're going to Vegas in August, the plan is to drive out as early Friday as possible (and to not be surprised with delays); driving back to LA on Friday should be much less of a problem.

Heh, if it was up to me, we would be making the return trip from Las Vegas on Monday or Tuesday.  The issue is that Jessica's work isn't as flexible as mine and she doesn't have a truckload of extra paid time off that I do. 

[cahwyguy]

We're stuck with Friday because it is a week-long timeshare interval exchange. But Friday going out should be much better than a Sunday going back, simply because the "going out" is a bit more staggered; "going back" to LA is more governed by check-out time at hotels, so everyone hits at once.

[Max Rockatansky]

That depends.  Usually we head over to Las Vegas on Friday night after work.  The freeway is busier than usual during the nighttime hours north of Barstow but not overwhelmingly so.  Typically we'll arrive around 11:30 PM or Midnight.  If we got to Barstow earlier in the night (say 6 or 7 PM) I'm sure the traffic would be substantially worse.

On my own I could avoid the Sunday rush by just getting up early.  Jessica isn't an early riser like me and doesn't want to get going until 10-11 AM.  That is literally the worst time to leave and head south on I-15.

[brad2971]

The other thing here is that California isn't going to pay to widen a road whose volume is people going to spend money in Nevada. I-15 north of Barstow holds minimal importance to California and the state has much higher widening priorities (SR 99 in the Central Valley, the remaining 2-lane section of SR 14, etc.).

I wonder where California thinks Las Vegans go on vacation.

Probably the same place where Phoenicians (and Zonies in general) go for their summer vacation: San Diego. Speaking of highway needs that a state DOT considers low-priority: You may have noticed that all the Zonie traffic hasn't come close to prompting Arizona DOT to build a freeway connection of Arizona 85 to I-8 at Gila Bend. To be fair, the Return on Investment of such a freeway connection is...not that great when factoring in Gila Bend's economy. But still...low-priority, thus Gila Bend will be the Breezewood of the Southwest for the foreseeable future.