Oklahoma City to Chicago - best route for motorhome? Tolls??

[John_S2]

In looking at the maps it looks like Int. 44 is a toll road but is maybe the best route to Chicago but are the tolls expensive for motor homes?

Is their a recommended alternate that is almost as good?

But, maybe the gas savings make the toll route the best?

Appreciate any recommendations from folks familiar with the routes.

Thanks, John S

[JaneNLee]

We have driven every route possible. We have a 460 FORD and it likes flat. We found INT 40 out of OKA City to Memphis and INT 55 North and it runs the Mississippi River to INT 155 South of St Louis and into Illinois to Int 55 to Chicago works well for us. We have the time for the extra miles vs tolls.

Whatever way you choose, have a good trip.

Happy RVing
Jane and Lee

[lane_hog]

The gas you'll spend on avoiding 44 will cost more than the tolls.... And it is a good road.

[rexlion]

I-44 in OK is good straight highway with 75 mph speed limit. The toll won't be that much, as tatest pointed out. If you are in no hurry, you can instead take old route 66 (mostly 2 lane) through such towns as Arcadia, Stroud, Bristow, Sapulpa, Catoosa, Claremore, Chelsea, and Vinita. Good pavement but it will probably add an hour or more to your drive.

With any other route, the gas will eat up your toll savings anyway.

[tatest]

PS tolls for a C motorhome on Turner and Will Rogers turnpikes are same as for a car. Under $10 for the two together. Unless you are towing, and then it goes up according to axle count. I think maybe about 4x as much for four axles vs two.

Don't know toll structure for Kansas toll roads.

[tatest]

There are numerous alternatives between OKC and Chicago, or Tulsa and Chicago, several I use frequently, but not to avoid the short toll sections on I-44 in Oklahoma, rather to avoid certain congested places (like St Louis, or Kansas City, kind of have to choose, as avoiding both gets tricky).

One way is I-35 north through Wichita and Kansas City to DesMoines, then I-80 to Chicago, approaching west side. But that puts you on the Kansas Turnpike, where the tolls add up to more than the Turner and Will Rogers turnpikes in Oklahoma.

A variation on that is to take I-35 north out of KC as far as US-36, take that to Hannibal, then I-72 to Springfield, Illinois. From there you can take I-55 to the west side of Chicago, or stay on I-72 to Champaign, and take I-57 to approach the southern suburbs.

To avoid both KC and St Louis I will sometimes (from NE Oklahoma) follow US-54 through Missouri (I get it at Fort Scott, from OKC you'd connect at Wichita) either taking it all the way to I-72 in western Illinois, or going north in eastern Missouri to Hannibal (US-61 or Mo-19, which I used this last trip). Another way avoid KC is the west side, take K-4 NE from Topeka to Atchison, then US-59 to cross at St Joseph and connect with US-36. Or US-59 north from Lawrence, or US-75 or US-77 north to US-36 in Kansas.

A lot depends on your time budget. While there are not a lot of extra miles, staying off the Interstates form NE Oklahoma to Chicago or southern Michigan costs me an extra half day. However, it does save moneyon gas, because I'm often cruisin 50-60 mph, rather than trying to keep up with 70 mph traffic, maybe as high as 75 on Oklahoma turnpikes, 80 on the Kansas Turnpike, and yes, the big trucks in the "slow" lane are trying to push those speeds. But you go through some interesting places on US-54 or US-36, if you take the time to stop and visit.

In this part of the country we use the US-numbered highways as our main travel routes, we didn't get that many Interstates (except the ones that followed toll roads we had already built) and they are often a long way out of our way, from where we are to where we are going.

[Tom_N]

I don't like to pay tolls, but I've found that the better gas mileage obtainable on toll roads offsets some of the toll costs.

-Tom

[camperpaul]

I-44 is a Toll Road, only in Oklahoma.

From St. Louis, take I-55 (freeway) to Chicago.

Are you going to the city or one of the suburbs?