I80 route to Middlebury area

shadoow wrote:
I'm trying to map a route to Middlebury. I'll be coming north on I57 out of Champaign, Illinois. Was originally gonna head east on Hwy 24 at Gilman, Illinois, then take Hwy 31 north, but due to some feedback on another thread I had posted I want to also explore taking I57 further north (i.e. stay on the interstate).

My questions:

How is the interstate drive I would have if I stayed on I57 and connected with I80 in the Chicago area and then go eastward past Gary, South Bend, etc.? Wondering about congestion, lane width, construction, signage, etc.

Would it be better, at least as far as congestion, if I went over to I65 and took it north instead to pick up I80 in the Gary, In. area??

On one of our trips across northern Indiana a few years ago, we took I-80EB out of Chicago area, and then took I-94 to exit 40 for US 20/IN 2. Took IN 2 to the US 20 bypass around South Bend/Mishawaka/Elkhart, and continued on US 20 to our destination near Lagrange. Except for the unavoidable congestion in the Chicago area, it was a good drive, not a lot of traffic on IN 2/US 20.

We also did US 24EB more recently, from I-57 through Sheldon IL, Monticello and Logansport IN, with a final destination of Fort Wayne. The stretch from I-57 to Logansport IN was all 2 lane roadway, with little towns every 10 miles or so, and in the spring when we did the trip, lots of farm vehicle traffic. It wasn't a bad trip that way, just that we didn't anticipate so much of the slower traffic encountered that way. May not be an issue if you're travelling it before springtime!