Getting Around In Irvine

Southern California is notorious for its busy freeways, traffic jams, and almost comical obsession with driving everywhere rather than walking or taking a bus. This is partly due to the fact that there are more cars in this part of the state than there are homes in Prince Edward Island real estate and partly due to the helter-skelter nature of the roads that have sprung up as the region developed. Irvine, however, was pre-planned from start to finish and is still administered by the same company, giving it a unique character with regards to transportation within the city.

Car Traffic Control

The majority of Californians, as previously stated, rely on personal vehicles to get around. In Irvine, not only are you not allowed to discuss the value of a resale home Mississauga on your cell phone while you drive, you are also monitored constantly as your drive the roadways within the city. Sensors in the roadway and traffic cameras at strategic intervals send information to ITRAC, the Irvine Traffic and Control Research Center, where traffic signals are automatically adjusted to make traffic flow more smoothly. This makes it less likely for you to be caught in traffic jams here than in other SoCal cities.

Additionally, because preference wasn't given to more King West lofts than the streets were able to handle, the roadways are nice and wide. The major arteries which radiate out from the center and separate the villages from one another are generally six lanes wide and have higher speed limits than most inner city streets, often more than 50mph. There are also several highways feeding into this mix including Interstates 5 and 405 and California State Routes 73, 133, 241 and 261, which make through-driving much easier.

Public Transit

Irvine, of course, recognizes that not everyone can afford to own a car or buy Ancaster homes for sale and has provided a public transit system for its citizens. The system consists of a commuter rail station where trains every 30 minutes take passengers either inland toward San Bernardino and Riverside counties or seaward toward the beaches of Orange County. Within the city there are two bus systems, one run by the Orange County transportation authority with routes that connect the villages and Irvine to the rest of Orange County, and another, run by the city called the iShuttle which has three routes: to the airport, to the business park, and to the nearby city of Tustin.

Biking and Walking

Irvine has an extensive system of parks that cost more to put in than the average Brampton condos complex. They are interspersed throughout the city at the heart of the villages and offer bike and foot shortcuts through the city. The trail system is over 44 miles long through the parkland. There are an additional 282 miles of dedicated bike lanes along Irvine's streets for the safety of bicycle commuters, not to mention the extensive network of sidewalks along nearly every street in the city.