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Old 10-13-2015, 09:47 PM   #1
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Question I-5 South of Sacramento

Will be heading South from Eugene Oregon in a couple days. Having talked to a fellow RV er he stated that I-5 South of Sacramento is extremely rough from years of high usage and low maintenance and he would recommend finding a different way to get down to Yuma Ar. Anyone traveled it lately? Or your thoughts. Thanks in advance!
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Old 10-13-2015, 10:05 PM   #2
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Rex,
We live near Sacramento and have traveled this route many times. It is in need of maintenance in some ares and is getting some in others. The worst section used to be south of Kettleman City before the Grapevine. That section has been recently repaved is now is not too bad.

Honestly, while there are still some rough spots, the biggest complaint I have with I-5 is sometimes the traffic. I have seen it stop in the middle of nowhere due to congestion-particularly on holiday weekends. Otherwise, I-5 is a long boring drive from Sacramento to LA.

Your other option would be 99. It is, in my opinion, somewhat worse than I-5 and has a lot of local traffic when going through the many towns along the route. So, while I-5 is boring, 99 is full of opportunities to slow down and negotiate the road with local traffic.

Your other option of course, would be to take I-80 over to Nevada and then pick up 395 South. That road is two lane much of the way and goes through some desolate areas. I would not take it unless I just wanted the adventure.

Hope you have a good trip.

Roy
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Old 10-13-2015, 11:50 PM   #3
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Google maps says 395 to 15 to 215, etc., is actually shorter than I5. Even if it were longer, I'd pick that route in a heartbeat. I avoid I5 and metro LA under almost any circumstances. 99 is no better. Why ever would you chose to go through LA? That's my $.02.

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Old 10-14-2015, 01:01 AM   #4
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We just came down 99 last week. It's in pretty good condition now compared to a couple years ago.

Myself...I'd go 99.
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Old 10-14-2015, 06:03 AM   #5
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I live in the area and travel both 99 and I-5 frequently. The pavement on I-5 is much improved and I don't have an issue with it. There is construction going thru the Stockton area that has lane shifts and concrete barriers and sub standard lane widths for about 10 miles. Traffic through that part can be a big problem depending on what day you travel. I drove thru there 6 days ago in my car.

Hwy 99 is much improved but suffers from a lot of regional truck traffic that really slows things down. You know, one truck traveling at 62 mph pulls out to pass a group of other trucks traveling at 60 mph and ties up the left lane for what seems like forever. This is more of a problem if you are in a car and traveling faster than most of us do in our rigs. I-5 suffers the effects from CA's dual speed limit. Traffic in the right lane flows along at about 60 mph while traffic in the left lane seems to move along at about 80 mph. I find myself having to occasionally kick the motorhome up to over 70 mph for short periods of time to complete a pass or I risk being overtaken by impatient drivers on right side who just can't seem to wait the extra few seconds it takes to get back into the right lane.

You can also travel south on 99 from Sacramento and then take Hwy 120 West back over to I-5 if you want to avoid the I-5 construction thru Stockton. (Taking Hwy 4 West between 99 and I-5 will dump you off right in the middle of the construction.)

Do avoid LA at all costs. You can take Hwy 58 out of Bakersfield east to Barstow and pick up I-40 to continue East. You can then drop south at your convenience. If you do this, Take Hwy 46 East from Lost Hills over to 99 near Bakersfield in order to easily catch Hwy 58.

Basically any way you choose to go will be fine in the RV. Just select the route that you are most comfortable with.

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Old 10-14-2015, 07:07 AM   #6
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I agree with avoiding LA. We go through there often because our son and family live in Torrance and we usually stop by to see them. But LA traffic can be a real hassle in a MH - even in a car!

However, I have to tell a story about one trip through LA on the 405 (Long Beach Freeway). There was a huge traffic pile up and it was about 6PM. Work was going on to replace/fix a bridge over the 405 near Mulholland drive, which seemed to be compounding the traffic slow down. Traffic was virtually stopped, but would crawl forward a few hundred feet every few minutes. We were in the right lane not towing a toad and wanted to get in the carpool lane, which did seem to be moving a little faster. So I put my left signal on and crawled along, hoping someone would let me move over. To my surprise, the person in the lane left of me immediately made room for me to move over. What followed that was amazing. Someone in the next lane did the same, and this continued until we were in the carpool lane. I think it only took us about 100 yards or so to get completely across all lanes. Maybe they all felt sorry for us, I don't know. Maybe the first kind person shamed the rest into letting us move over. I was grateful though because we had just driven about 8 hours from Sacramento through a bunch of road construction on I-5 and were getting pretty tired.

I have heard a lot about bad LA drivers, but this evening we saw a lot of courtesy. I do know is that this would never happen in Sacramento. Putting your signal on there just signals the traffic next to you to speed up and block you from moving over.

Whichever route you take, I hope you have a good drive.
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Old 10-14-2015, 09:01 AM   #7
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We take travel between SoCal and NorCal several times a year to visit our kids. The I-5 is a route we try to avoid. It is always rough somewhere. Last spring it was so rough northbound just south of Avenal, that almost every MH stopped at the rest stop to check for damage, including us. We try to take alternate routes when we can, sometimes that just doesn't work out.

That said, given a choice, we'd opt for the 395 on the east side of the Sierras or the 95 thru Nevada. 395 is good 2 lane road thru some small towns, Mono Lake, Bishop, Lone Pine and It gives you an opportunity to stop and see Manzanar, one of the Japanese interment camps from world war 2. (if you haven't been there yet). 95 is a bit more desolate, but the road is good. It will take you right thru Vegas, which we always find as a nice stop.

Of course you could always head the other way and go down the coast using 101. That gives you the option of enjoying the wine country in both NorCal and the Central coast, and then the beach is always nice. But the drive thru San Francisco is not for the faint of heart, so we usually go around the city and then back to the coast if we choose that way. We'd head east from the central coast to avoid LA and hook up with the 58 to continue to Yuma.

Bottom line, given a choice, we'd stay off both the I-5 and the 99. One of the other three options, while a bit longer, makes for a more pleasant drive. Enjoy the journey.
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Old 10-14-2015, 09:24 AM   #8
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We live in the Mt Hood area. Most of the time we head down 97 to Reno and LV. Easy drive.
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Old 10-14-2015, 12:33 PM   #9
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Instead of taking I-5, why not swing over to 95 and take it as far south as you can? This last spring we traveled on 95 from about Reno, to Las Vegas and then back up to the Canada border in northern Idaho. While 95 might not be most direct route, I found it much more enjoyable to drive.
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Old 10-14-2015, 01:10 PM   #10
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I agree that whilst the 5 isn't a bad drive, it's pretty boring. I'd probably try and avoid it, but I like adventure. And it's definitely true that traffic is up over the years -- in 1995 you could easily cruise it at 83mph and never take the cruise control off in your car... now, you often get caught in long stretches at 62-63mph.

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Old 10-14-2015, 01:50 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by R2Home View Post
Instead of taking I-5, why not swing over to 95 and take it as far south as you can? This last spring we traveled on 95 from about Reno, to Las Vegas and then back up to the Canada border in northern Idaho. While 95 might not be most direct route, I found it much more enjoyable to drive.
Isn't 95 about 4000 mile out of the way or do you mean 395
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Old 10-14-2015, 02:33 PM   #12
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Hwy 95. Runs north/south through central Nevada.
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Old 10-14-2015, 02:48 PM   #13
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This, a long haul driver that we know, suggested this route and I am glad that we took it.
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Hwy 95. Runs north/south through central Nevada.
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Old 10-14-2015, 05:16 PM   #14
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This, a long haul driver that we know, suggested this route and I am glad that we took it.
Goldfield and Beatty, on 95, The speed limit is 25mph, DO NOT go 26. Speed traps.
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