# Worst 10-minute commute (L.A., of course)



## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

From Brentwood to Westwood via Wilshire. Probably 1.5 miles each way.

Traffic was pretty light the day I took these.

Wanted captions for all the pics and wasn't sure of the best way to do it. Hope this makes sense:

# 1: After cutting through the V.A., you come up the ramp that you see in the distant left of the picture and merge into the right-most through lane of Wilshire. And by the way, as you merge left, a steady stream of cars is trying to merge across you to get on the 405 South. That's the three cars behind the UPS truck. At this point, you'd be riding right beside the Big Blue Bus.

# 2: Just after passing the 405 South onramp, you pass the first offramp from the 405. Here, you'd be between the white sedan and the white minivan. The bridge is the 405. Just beyond that is Sepulveda, and just beyond that is another onramp. The right lane here eventually goes onto the freeway, so your best bet is to stay toward the right of the # 2 lane. Note that cars exiting the freeway must merge across you yet again in order to go straight after the light. Also note that Westwood Village is to the north (left) of Wilshire, so most cars exiting the freeway are also trying to furiously merge left over four or five lanes to be able to turn left onto Veteran, Gayley or Westwood or, here, even Sepulveda.

# 3: This is just after Sepulveda. It should now be apparent why you'd stay toward the right of the second lane, as the right lane does not go through. So of course, while you're in that lane minding your own business, the last-minute a$$holes are trying desperately to get into the right lane to make the 405 North onramp. And no, that's not the same bus as before.

# 4: Just after you pass the 405 North onramp, you pass yet another 405 offramp. For added convenience, this offramp has two lanes that merge into one just after joining Wilshire. In other words, while you're making your way across two lanes to your proper place on the road, two lanes of freeway exiters are trying to deal with merging with each other while, at the same time, merging left to make their way into the village. It also just so happens that the right lane in this stretch is the best for driving, so the real aggressive ones are cutting across the grain to get to that lane. Which is right where you are. Happy trails!

# 5: Ahhhh. Safety at last. No more freeway ramps. Just four lanes of aggressive a$$holes with no room for a bike. At this point you just take the lane and ignore the honkers and hecklers. That's yet another bus.

# 6: The way home. This is heading west, just after Veteran. 405 entrance lane is simple enough. Except that from the # 2 lane, drivers can either turn right into the 405 onramp or go straight. So you take the middle of the # 2 lane and, as per usual, ignore the honkers and hecklers.

# 7: People exiting from the 405 South, just before Sepulveda. This one's really not too bad. The only problem is that you've got to stay in the # 2 lane because after Sepulveda, the two right lanes become freeway entrances.

# 8: See?

# 9: And finally, the 405 South meets Wilshire West. That's you, right between the SUV and the minivan. The SUV is trying to merge right to get to the VA. The minivan is trying to merge onto Wilshire.


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## meat tooth paste (Oct 6, 2004)

This is a good post.

The Wilshire Blvd exit off the 405 freeway has the highest car accident rate of any freeway/highway exit in the country (according to my brother who is a planner for the MTA).

Combine that with your photo of the poor cyclist forced to merge over two lanes when the exit hits Wilshire Blvd...well that's bad news in the making for any cyclist.

Have you thought about heading south on Sepulveda pass Wilshire and then cutting east across via the bike path in the park that leads up back into Westwood via Veteran. It's out of the way south, but free of that badly planned Wilshire 405 exit.


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## meat tooth paste (Oct 6, 2004)

One more thing...

I have always been so surprised at the poor bike planning for Westwood because it has such a healthy number of cyclist (students from UCLA and office professionals).

The lack of a bike lane on Westwood from Wilshire into campus makes no sense since its's the main entrance to the school.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

meat tooth paste said:


> Have you thought about heading south on Sepulveda pass Wilshire and then cutting east across via the bike path in the park that leads up back into Westwood via Veteran. It's out of the way south, but free of that badly planned Wilshire 405 exit.


Yeah, and you can also cut through the parking lot of the Federal Building ... just watch out for a disgruntled Tom Ridge thinking he's still protecting us from terrorists. If that circumvented more of this stretch than the one block between Veteran and Sepulveda I would do it.

Another alternative is to take the VA all the way to Sepulveda, left to Montana, and Montana/Gayley into the village.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

meat tooth paste said:


> One more thing...
> 
> I have always been so surprised at the poor bike planning for Westwood because it has such a healthy number of cyclist (students from UCLA and office professionals).
> 
> The lack of a bike lane on Westwood from Wilshire into campus makes no sense since its's the main entrance to the school.


I couldn't agree more.

I just posted something similar in the other thread: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=20213


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## QuiQuaeQuod (Jan 24, 2003)

*can't you cut through the cemetary?*

That was alwasy my prefered method for avoiding the wilshire/405 hell. On the north of the ramps, from the west side, enter the VA grounds and work your way east. When you get to the part that has a right (to go under wilshire, so the south grounds of the VA) turn left and work your way to the cemetary. Go through there, and Viola! Brentwood to Westwood with no traffic!

As I said in the other thread, it has been over 5 years since I lived there, but try it out. 

My alternative, before I found out about the cemetary, was to swing south through the VA, cross sepulveda, and then head back north.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

dr hoo said:


> That was alwasy my prefered method for avoiding the wilshire/405 hell. On the north of the ramps, from the west side, enter the VA grounds and work your way east. When you get to the part that has a right (to go under wilshire, so the south grounds of the VA) turn left and work your way to the cemetary. Go through there, and Viola! Brentwood to Westwood with no traffic!
> 
> As I said in the other thread, it has been over 5 years since I lived there, but try it out.
> 
> My alternative, before I found out about the cemetary, was to swing south through the VA, cross sepulveda, and then head back north.


I didn't think you could get through the cemetery. I'll check it out.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Dr. Roebuck. Your photos are old. AM 1260 is now an Oldies Station (and the best one in town). Not an MOR-Showtunes station. Anyway, even on a Sunday, I'd avoid Wilshire Blvd around Westwood. Why couldn't you go down Ohio Avenue, then Santa Monica Blvd, and then perhaps up Veteran or even Westwood? Sure, you wouldn't be pumping as much adrenaline. But you'd also be taking a couple hills, and getting better exercise.


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## meat tooth paste (Oct 6, 2004)

il sogno said:


> ...Why couldn't you go down Ohio Avenue, then Santa Monica Blvd, and then perhaps up Veteran or even Westwood? Sure, you wouldn't be pumping as much adrenaline. But you'd also be taking a couple hills, and getting better exercise.


The Doc is coming from Brentwood, so I don't think it makes sense to him to cut that far south and then backtrack north to the hospital. 

True, it would be more exercise though  and that's a good thing.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

meat tooth paste said:


> The Doc is coming from Brentwood, so I don't think it makes sense to him to cut that far south and then backtrack north to the hospital.


Thnx, Meat. If I'm ever going further east than Westwood, like Beverly Hills, then I definitely go down to S.M. or Olympic. But from Brentwood to Westwood, the distance is so short that it's just not worth it.

And i think the flat-out sprints along the way are plenty good for exercise!

I'm planning on checking out the cemetery in the next few days to see if there's a way to get through.


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## meat tooth paste (Oct 6, 2004)

DrRoebuck said:


> ...I'm planning on checking out the cemetery in the next few days to see if there's a way to get through.


Yeah let us know how the cemetary route turns out.

From the looks of the map, there is an entrance on Constitution off of Sepulveda but I can't tell where the exit is on the Veteran side of the property.


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## mickey-mac (Sep 2, 2000)

*Only way in-out?*



meat tooth paste said:


> Yeah let us know how the cemetary route turns out.
> 
> From the looks of the map, there is an entrance on Constitution off of Sepulveda but I can't tell where the exit is on the Veteran side of the property.


There's definitely an entrance to the Vets' Cemetery at Sepulveda and Constitution (picture below), but I don't think there's any access on the east side.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

mickey-mac said:


> There's definitely an entrance to the Vets' Cemetery at Sepulveda and Constitution (picture below), but I don't think there's any acess on the east side.


yeah. i'm also wondering what hours that gate is open for.


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## mickey-mac (Sep 2, 2000)

The cemetery opens at 8:00, but the gate at Sepulveda and Constitution may be open earlier. http://www.cem.va.gov/nchp/losangeles.htm


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## QuiQuaeQuod (Jan 24, 2003)

*entrance/exit*

The ones I mentioned are not on a map. At least IIRC.

The one from the VA side is, I think, a maintenance road. I seem to recall a shed and some trucks parked off to the left on my way down a hill before swinging under the 405. The one I used on the westwood side might, or might not, be a sidewalk. Things get fuzzy after a few years, and I only did it a handful of times, since normally I came from the south and had san vincente as my goal on rides. Very few times was I going straight from campus to brentwood or vice versa.

Poke around, and maybe you can find a good way.


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## meat tooth paste (Oct 6, 2004)

The cemetary tore down the chainlink fence on the Veteran side of the perimeter and put up a nicer iron wall/fence sometime in the past year or two. I'll check it out this weekend when I ride into Helens.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

meat tooth paste said:


> The cemetary tore down the chainlink fence on the Veteran side of the perimeter and put up a nicer iron wall/fence sometime in the past year or two. I'll check it out this weekend when I ride into Helens.


I just checked it out today. The iron fence thing is locked along Veteran. No way to get through the cemetery.


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## meat tooth paste (Oct 6, 2004)

DrRoebuck said:


> I just checked it out today. The iron fence thing is locked along Veteran. No way to get through the cemetery.


Oh well. That would have been a nice and safer short cut. 
Thanks for checkin' it out and sharing.


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