yeah, the never ending construction is always a factor...but I'll say this, the eastern loop with the relatively new 9b spur to the south makes for a nice and more direct route than the western side...but not as direct as straight through of course...
My advice,
1) avoid 7-8ish in the AM and 5-6ish in the PM
2) use either google maps or the Waze app on your smartphone and follow-it. It seems to give good advice based on real time traffic. Sometimes it steers me left, sometimes right, sometimes straight