Portland Traffic

A September 2013 file photos shows Portland rush-hour traffic crawling eastbound on U.S. 26 near Sylvan. It's among the five areas across the Portland area where traffic is predicted to be worse than usual on Wednesday.

(Doug Beghtel/The Oregonian)

Daily traffic

If you're driving in Portland on Wednesday -- the year's busiest travel day -- here are the five routes that you'll want to avoid in the afternoon.

Between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., traffic is expected to be unusually heavy. Inrix, a Washington traffic analytics firm, predicts that Portland's holiday traffic will be the country's second worst. (Behind only Los Angeles.)

Inrix expects Portland's traffic delays to be 35 percent longer than a typical day's. A 30-minute drive will become a 40-minute trip. An hour-long trip will take an extra 20 minutes.

But that's just on average. A few notorious places will morph into even ghastlier black holes.

Here are the region's worst of the worst:

1. Interstate 5 northbound from Macadam Avenue (Exit 299) to the Interstate Bridge.

Distance: 10 miles

What you hope it takes: 11 minutes

The Wednesday forecast: 50 minutes

Average expected speed: 12 mph

2. U.S. 26 eastbound from Camelot Court overpass to Exit 73.

Distance: 4 miles

What you hope it takes: 4 minutes

The Wednesday forecast: 16 minutes

Average expected speed: 16 mph

3. Interstate 205 northbound from Washington Street/Stark Street to U.S. 30 (Exits 20 to 23).

Distance: 4 miles

What you hope it takes: 4 minutes

The Wednesday forecast: 14 minutes.

Average expected speed: 17 mph

4. Interstate 84 eastbound from Oregon 99E to Interstate 205.

Distance: 6 miles

What you hope it takes: 6 minutes

The Wednesday forecast: 19 minutes

Average expected speed: 19 mph

5. Interstate 5 southbound from Haines Street to Elligsen Road (Exits 293 to 286).

Distance: 8 miles

What you hope it takes: 8 minutes

The Wednesday forecast: 29 minutes

Average expected speed: 16 mph

-- Rob Davis