I've driven, towed, and ridden back & forth through Chicago dozens of times in all kinds of weather & traffic. Unless you were going all the way out by Rockford and coming back up I-39/I-43 through Madison, you still needed to use US41, I-294, or I-94 to come north. ↑ We used to take 270-70-68-79-80 all the time to Oshkosh for the Fly-In. Hey, if they've actually completed some of the roadwork there, then maybe some of those tax dollars actually are showing a result! My outlook is a bit cynical, having gotten stuck in backups more often than not even at times when you wouldn't expect to, over years of runs through and around Chicago - but, not being a local, I'm not running through often enough by any means for up-to-the minute insight. If I could have any confidence that stretch of road actually moved I'd prefer to make better time on the highway, but a pokey detour at least is somewhat better than being stranded in barely moving traffic with no hope in sight.Ĭhicago's quite congested regardless, but if I-94's not a hopeless disaster (right now) as far as road condition or construction zones go, then yes, that's certainly the most direct and quickest. In the meantime, if northbound, I've opted to duck off I-65 south of Merrillville and cut over back roads through Crown Point, preferring to move along at a relatively unmolested 30-35 mph than risk crawling interminably 5mph, bumper-to-bumper, and surrounded on all sides by an endless sea of cars and semis across 4 or 5 lanes. I recall getting through town was ok after 9 or 10 at night, generally, IF 94 for that split-second of time I happened to be running through was construction-zone free. I gave up on trying to take I-80/94 westbound from I-65 some years ago as several years in a row I got caught in some ridiculous 20-30 mile backups, whatever they were, due to traffic congestion, and that section of highway inbound to Chicago never seemed to be uncongested and moving unless it was really late. ↑ Haven't been through Chicago lately, Marshall?Nope, last time was about two years ago somewhere in there or the previous year I tried going through town southbound and got held up for an hour or so in backed-up, down-to-one-lane construction zones. You'll hit I-94 again at the Wisconsin state line anyway. It is the old Chicago-Milwaukee 'main road', so don't hesitate to get out of standing traffic to use it instead.
Once you're on the north side, things should flow smoothly but if they don't, US 41 is always just a couple miles east. Mid-day isn't awfully bad, IME, but if you're looking at hitting town around 4:30, it's better to stop and have a leisurely early dinner and try after 7:00 PM. You can go through before 6:30 AM relatively easily most days. Obviously, you want to avoid the city during rush hours - and the adjustable toll rates reflect that.
The Skyway is kind of expensive but maybe worth it if I-94 looks particularly busy when you get there. Even when they were rebuilding the Whole Damn Thing in the mid-'90s, I drove I-94 right through the middle of town.Īll in all, it's in pretty good shape right now if you're using I-90/I-94. I have only used I-294 a handful of times. Better to take 294 toll-road around unless that's all mucked up with construction too, although that's about the only viable direct option.Haven't been through Chicago lately, Marshall? My perspective is as a transplanted Ohioan who's driven through Chicago countless times over the past 19 years since moving to Wisconsin. ↑ Don't bother trying to drive through downtown Chicago unless you're rolling through after Midnight-1:00am local time, and even with that, it might not be worth it due either to road construction & associated congestion, or roads in horrendous shape nobody would want to drive on.
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