TRAFFIC SHORTCUTS: The Barham By-Pass

Stuck in traffic on Barham Boulevard? It's particularly frustrating if you've not timed yourself around a special event at the Universal Gibson Amphitheatre, or you live next to that tiny, but always-packed John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in the Cahuenga Pass.

Just ignore the signs that say "No Access to the Hollywood Sign" and take a left up the hill. They're purposefully misleading because the neighbors don't want cars trekking through the hills, but those in-the-know will tell you about the lovely drive around the Hollywood Reservoir as a peaceful alternative to being stuck in 101 Freeway traffic.

Here's how to do it.

At Barham, take a left onto Lake Hollywood Drive, there's a light.

Snake up the hill, but stay on Lake Hollywood, it's easy to veer off and get lost on one of the side streets.

At the top, when you reach the crest of the hill, there are two ways to go. 

If you're heading for Hollywood proper, the Hollywood-Highland complex or the Bowl, then take a right down the very tiny Wonder View Drive.  The road looks like a series of alleyways, but keep going, and it will turn down the hill and end up out on Lakeridge Place which is right above the Cahuenga Boulevard East part of the freeway sideroad.

This part is tricky. Cahuenga Boulevard at this juncture only heads back into the Valley and will spill you back into Studio City, so instead of continuing down to Cahuenga right away, take a left on Lakeridge Place, and then a quick right will take you on a bridge that will get you over to the west side of Cahuenga and take you into Hollywood, or bring you to where you can take the Outpost Outback.

If, at the crest of Wonder View and Lake Hollywood you really want to take the scenic route, then follow the road down and to the left and you'll see the Hollywood Reservoir, which looks like a big lake, and you will get spectacular close-up views of the HOLLYWOOD sign, but no, you can't walk up to it—anymore. (I climbed it about a half dozen times and wrote my name on the third O.) Anyway, if you try now, you'll set off alarms and stuff.

Here are other TRAFFIC SHORTCUTS to get out of Studio City:

▪                The Outpost Outback 

▪                The Franklin Canyon Fake 

▪                The Laurel Canyon Loop 

▪                The Benedict Canyon Cheat

▪                The Coldwater Sneak 

▪                The Wrightwood Wind 

But don't tell anyone!