If you’re sitting on the 60 fwy traffic today, you probably don’t need me to tell you it’s a nightmare. You already know. You’re likely staring at a sea of red brake lights somewhere between the 605 interchange and the Badlands, wondering why this specific stretch of asphalt feels like a personal test of your patience. It sucks. Honestly, the 60—or the Pomona Freeway, if you want to be formal about it—is arguably one of the most unpredictable arteries in the entire Southern California grid. It doesn't matter if it's 10:00 AM or 10:00 PM; this road has a mind of its own.
Most people assume the 60 is just a "backup" for the 10 or the 91. That’s a mistake. It’s a beast in its own right, carrying a massive percentage of the nation’s freight coming out of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. When you're stuck behind a line of triple-axle rigs near Ontario, you aren't just in "traffic." You’re in the middle of a global supply chain bottleneck.
What is actually causing 60 fwy traffic today?
It isn't always just "too many cars." That’s the lazy explanation. To understand why the 60 fwy traffic today is moving at a snail's pace, you have to look at the geometry of the road itself. Take the "60/57 Confluence" in Diamond Bar. It’s one of the most heavily congested interchanges in the country. Engineers call it a "weaving" problem. You have thousands of drivers trying to cross three lanes of traffic in less than half a mile to stay on their respective freeways. It’s a recipe for fender benders, and in Southern California, a single fender bender on the 60 can ripple backward for ten miles.
Then there’s the construction. Caltrans has been working on the "60 Swarm" and various pavement rehabilitation projects for what feels like a lifetime. Even when the lanes are open, the narrowed shoulders and shifted lanes make drivers nervous. Nervous drivers tap their brakes. That tiny tap causes a "phantom traffic jam" that lasts for hours after the original cause is gone.
Weather plays a weird role here too. Because the 60 runs through the San Bernardino Valley and out toward the desert, it catches some of the nastiest crosswinds in the region. If you’re driving a high-profile vehicle—like an SUV or a delivery van—and a 40 mph gust hits you near Jurupa Valley, you’re going to slow down. Everyone behind you does the same. Boom. Instant gridlock.
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The Freight Factor
Let's talk about the trucks. You can't talk about the 60 without talking about the "Inland Empire economy." Massive warehouses have sprouted up like mushrooms across Moreno Valley and Riverside. This means the 60 fwy traffic today is heavily influenced by logistics schedules.
Tuesday through Thursday? Heavy freight days.
Mondays? Usually a bit lighter in the morning, then hell in the afternoon.
Fridays? Forget about it. You have the "weekend exodus" to Vegas and Palm Springs mixing with the 4:00 PM warehouse shift changes.
Real ways to dodge the 60 fwy traffic today
Look, Waze is great, but it’s not magic. Sometimes Waze tells everyone to take the same "shortcut," and suddenly that side street in Hacienda Heights is just as clogged as the freeway. If you want to actually save time, you need to understand the alternative geography.
Valley Boulevard is your best friend (sometimes).
Running parallel to the 60 for a huge chunk of the San Gabriel Valley, Valley Boulevard can be a lifesaver. But here’s the catch: the lights are timed for local traffic, not for you to blast through at 45 mph. If the 60 is at a total standstill (under 10 mph), Valley is worth it. If the 60 is doing 25 mph, stay on the freeway. The stoplights on Valley will eat up any time you think you’re saving.
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The "High Road" vs. the "Low Road."
If you’re heading east toward the IE, you have a choice at the 60/91/215 interchange. Most people blindly follow their GPS. If the 60 looks bad through Riverside, consider jumping down to the 91 earlier than usual, even if it adds a few miles. The 91 has its own problems, obviously, but it has more "escape hatches" in terms of surface streets than the 60 does once you pass the 15 freeway.
Why the carpool lane might be a trap
The HOV lanes on the 60 are notorious. Because there aren't many physical barriers in certain sections, people "jump" the double yellow lines constantly. This creates a psychological drag on the carpool lane. If the main lanes are stopped, the carpool lane usually doesn't go much faster than 30 or 40 mph because drivers are terrified of someone clipping them. Don’t pay for an Express Lane pass if you’re already seeing "braking ahead" signs on your dashboard; by then, the "flow" is already broken.
The psychological toll of the 60
Driving this road isn't just a physical act. It's an emotional one. There is something uniquely draining about the 60. Maybe it’s the lack of scenery compared to the 210, or the constant shadow of shipping containers. Experts in "traffic psychology"—yes, that’s a real thing—suggest that the high volume of heavy machinery (trucks) on the 60 increases driver stress levels significantly. When you’re stressed, you make worse decisions. You tailgating. You lane-weave.
If you’re stuck in 60 fwy traffic today, the best thing you can do for your sanity is to accept that you are no longer in control of your arrival time. Once that "acceptance" hits, your blood pressure drops. Put on a long podcast. Don't check the "time to destination" every two minutes. It’s going to take as long as it takes.
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What the data says about the future of the 60
There are rumors that the 60 will eventually get a full "smart highway" upgrade. We’re talking integrated sensors that can adjust speed limits in real-time to prevent the "stop-and-go" effect. But until then, we are stuck with what we have.
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has consistently ranked sections of the 60 as some of the most "economically vital" but "physically strained" roads in the state. They know it’s a problem. But fixing it is like trying to perform heart surgery while the patient is running a marathon. They can't just shut the 60 down to fix the bottlenecks because the local economy would literally stop.
Actionable steps for your commute
If you are a regular on this route, you need a strategy. Don't just wing it.
- Check the CHP Incident Page. Not just Google Maps. Google tells you where it’s slow; the California Highway Patrol (CHP) CAD site tells you why. If it’s a "fluid spill," you aren't moving for three hours. Take a different freeway entirely.
- The "2:00 PM Rule." If you can’t get past the 60/57 interchange by 2:00 PM, you might as well stay at the office or the coffee shop until 6:30 PM. The "peak" of the 60 fwy traffic today starts earlier than almost any other road in the basin.
- Mind the "Sun Glare." In the late afternoon, heading west on the 60 is brutal. The sun hits the windshield at an angle that makes the road disappear. This causes massive slowdowns near the 710 and 5 interchanges. Keep a pair of high-quality polarized sunglasses in your center console specifically for this. It sounds small, but it prevents the "panic braking" that starts the traffic waves.
- Tire Pressure and Cooling. The 60 has long, subtle inclines, especially as you move toward the Badlands. In the summer, these inclines kill cars with weak cooling systems. If you see a car overheated on the shoulder, that’s another 15-minute delay for everyone else. Keep your car maintained so you aren't "that person."
The 60 fwy traffic today is a reflection of Southern California itself—busy, crowded, a little bit chaotic, but ultimately necessary. You can't beat the system every day, but by understanding the flow of freight, the "weaving" points, and the reality of the 60/57 confluence, you can at least make an informed choice. Sometimes, the best way to handle the 60 is to not be on it at all. But if you have to be, now you know why you're crawling.
Stay in your lane. Don't cut off the trucks—they can't stop as fast as you can. And for the love of everything, use your turn signal. We're all in this together.