avoiding Chicago area traffic
We will be traveling West on I-80 in a few weeks. Looking for an alternate route right before Gary, Indiana on past I-57. I was looking at Taking HWY 49 south before I get to Gary, IN. Pick up Hwy ...
Forum Discussion
US-30 doesn't work, it is mostly urban streets around the south side of the metro area. It is slow from I-65 to I-55, is more rural east and west of that segment. US-80/90 actually bypasses Chicago, but it is a bottleneck for coast to coast traffic (at some points carrying at least three Interstate routes on the same pavement).
If you want to get onto rural two-lane highways, you have to go down to US-24 to bypass the Chicago suburbs. Coming more from the southwest and headed toward Detroit, I use that route often, US-24 from I-57 to I-69. But it is a lot slower than the Interstate, almost an extra three hours Springfield to Battle Creek, compared to taking I-57 to I-80, then I-80 to I-69 or I-94 around the edge of Lake Michigan. When I'm in a hurry, I-80. When I plan to make stops in Champaign, Peru, Elkhart or Angola, and don't care that it means an extra day, US-24.
Joliet is part of the suburban traffic mess on US-30. It is now sort of the southern edge of Chicago suburbs, because Interstate 55 makes for a shorter commute than it was 60 years ago.
If you want to get onto rural two-lane highways, you have to go down to US-24 to bypass the Chicago suburbs. Coming more from the southwest and headed toward Detroit, I use that route often, US-24 from I-57 to I-69. But it is a lot slower than the Interstate, almost an extra three hours Springfield to Battle Creek, compared to taking I-57 to I-80, then I-80 to I-69 or I-94 around the edge of Lake Michigan. When I'm in a hurry, I-80. When I plan to make stops in Champaign, Peru, Elkhart or Angola, and don't care that it means an extra day, US-24.
Joliet is part of the suburban traffic mess on US-30. It is now sort of the southern edge of Chicago suburbs, because Interstate 55 makes for a shorter commute than it was 60 years ago.
