Is There A Viable Alternative to I-15 from LV to LA after New Years?

We'll be driving back to L.A. from Las Vegas after the long holiday weekend and we're wondering if there's a reasonable alternative to I-15. On the Sunday following Thanksgiving, my brother and sister-in-law were stuck in traffic for hours at the border, waiting to get through the agricultural checkpoint. We'd like to avoid all that if possible.

On the Sunday following Thanksgiving last month, tens of thousands of cars trying to return to southern California hit a 23-mile-long traffic jam northeast of Primm. Vehicles were backed up for 15 miles as early as 8:30 a.m., the result of three lanes narrowing to two after crossing from Nevada into California on I-15. The new agricultural checkpoint seven miles west of Primm, which has been open for seven months, exacerbated the situation.

And yes, there are a couple of alternatives. You can still get there from here. They're quite a bit longer mileage-wise, but could actually be shorter time-wise, depending on the traffic.

The first route starts off heading west on Rt. 160. This is Blue Diamond Road, the exit off I-15 just south of the Strip where Silverton is. The road is two lanes each way as it winds up into the Spring Mountains. At little Mountain Springs (right at the summit; check out the Mountain Springs Saloon for some local color), the road narrows to one lane in each direction for a six-mile widening project that will be completed next summer. Back on the flats, it becomes two lanes again into Pahrump, 63 miles from the city.

From downtown Pahrump, you head south on Rt. 372, which turns into CA Rt. 127 at Shoshone after 27 miles. From there, it's another 56 miles to Baker, well past the state line at Primm and the ag station. The entire detour is 146 miles, 51 miles longer than the direct route from Las Vegas to Baker on I-15, with a travel time of 2 hours and 15 minutes, as compared to 90 minutes direct without traffic, but God knows how long with.

The other alternative is to drive through Henderson on I-215 and cut off on US 95/I-11 heading south for 78 miles, where you pass the turnoff to Laughlin, then another 23 miles to I-40 in California. From there, it's a fast 133 miles west to Barstow, where you pick up I-15 again. Altogether, it's 234 miles to Barstow, compared to 157 direct on I-15, or three hours and 40 minutes compared to two hours and 25 minutes without traffic on I-15.

No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.

Have a question that hasn't been answered? Email us with your suggestion.

Missed a Question of the Day?

Have a Question?

Tomorrow's Question

Do casinos still have hard-count rooms?

Comments

Dave Dec-24-2018

Why?

What is the purpose of that agricultural check point?

gaattc2001 Dec-24-2018

You can also bypass the southern end of I-15...

Once in 2001/2 I was returning to Los Angeles from Las Vegas. In Barstow I heard on the radio that the Cajon Pass was a parking lot due to brush fires. I got off I-15 at Victorville and went due West on State Routes 18 and 138 past Edwards AFB to I-5, then South. It was a lot farther for me because I lived in Covina and then had to backtrack to the East; but I got home, and the next afternoon I-15 was still a mess. 
Once you pass Victorville/Apple Valley, you're stuck on I-15 for better or worse. A few months before this incident, I was caught in a traffic jam on the Pass, and it took something like three hours to get from Hesperia to the 215 exit. This inspired the saying, "Always leave Victorville with a full tank and an empty bladder."
More recently, going from Phoenix to Laughlin, I heard that I-40 was snowed in East of Kingman. Wound up going West on I-10 to Blythe, then North on US 95. That was a LOT farther. If I'd realized how much farther, I might have stayed home.
Cheers.

JimBeam Dec-24-2018

Another Way

While it doesn't completely avoid the Primm area, another alternative is to take the I-15 South and use the first exit in CA, which is Nipton Road. You then navigate through there to Ivanpah Road, Cima, Kelso junction and on to Amboy and through 29 Palms where you can catch the I-10. Depending on which part of SoCal you're going to, this can be faster if you're headed to Riverside or San Bernardino counties and the eastern part of the IE.

Dave in Seattle. Dec-24-2018

Get there from here

Leave with a full tank of gasoline and an empty bladder.
  Actually,that is good advice.
  You may be stuck at a snails pace for frikken' miles.
Well,at least your automobile will not overheat in December.
Now,I know why people have light planes.

Jetpilotrick Dec-24-2018

Stay home

How about staying at your own home for the holidays!  Too many Californians here anyways!

Kevin Lewis Dec-24-2018

The actual best alternate route

Jetpilot and a few others have expressed their hatred of Californians, but without Californians to feed the casino piggy banks, Las Vegas would be a barren, repulsive, lightly populated wasteland, rather than a barren, repulsive, heavily populated wasteland. So give thanks for all those people stuck on I-15, fuming.

Really, though, I would think that one time suffering through the traffic would be enough. Normally, it's absurd to fly anywhere when the drive is 4 hours--you get there faster driving. But fighting your way in and out of McCarran is preferable to counting the desert tortoises as they whiz by while you sit in a traffic jam.

If you need to go completely around Barstool, you can take 95 all the way down to I-10 and then bomb along westward from there (or, for the lovers of desert adventure and tow trucks, there are some secondary roads from I-40 that can be used to skirt the town).

[email protected] Dec-24-2018

Stay Longer

It might be better to schedule an extra day in Las Vegas and hit I-15 after the crush. There's plenty to see and do there other than gambling.

Dec-24-2018

Replying to Dave's "Why?"

Dave, the purpose of the agricultural checkpoint is to try to catch any vermin that can decimate one or more of California's main crops. California is the clear #1 state when it comes to crop production, and it cannot allow invading insects to come into the state and have their way with the crops.  Billions of dollars in crop sales are hanging in the balance.

Dec-24-2018

Alternative routes

As a resident of the Los Angeles metro area who had to deal with this problem multiple times when I had a car, here's my 6 cents. My 1st choice was to take a vacation day on Monday, and then be able to enjoy the whole day Sunday in Vegas, and then drive home Monday with no traffic. If you're sure you can make it to your job by 1pm, you could get by with just taking a half day off. But if I came back Sunday, I would take Hwy 95 south to 1-40, then at Barstow take Old Route 66 (Main Street west) to Victorville, get on the I-15 for a short bit, then take state hwy 18 west to state hwy 138 west to the 14 freeway south.  Longer than usual distance-wise and time-wise, but no aggravation from traffic jams, and you'll be able to eat at a non-chain diner you've never visited before and eat something different from the "same old, same old".

Question of the Day - 24 December 2018

Comments