Toll roads

[Rygar]

I'm hoping someone from Illinois or one of the eastern states can help me with some info. In August I'll be travelling east and one of our stops is Beaver Dam Wisconsin. From there we'll be heading east again. Looking at my maps we will be picking up the 90/94 at about O'Hare. Can someone tell me what it might cost for tolls from O'Hare to Toledo, Ohio if I stayed on the 90/94 and did the Chicago Skyway and the Indiana Toll road. I'll be pulling my Fiver of course so it'll be 4 axles. Thanks in advance.

[Mortimer_Brewst]

If you want to minimize your tolls, I'd go I-39 to I-80. I believe Route 20 in Indiana parallels the toll road. Google Maps can determine the best route through Hoosier country. You can change the settings to avoid tolls.

[SidecarFlip]

Rygar wrote:
Ya, I think I've got it figured out. Avoiding the Skyway it looks like it's about $90. for tolls from North of Chicago to the east side of Ohio. Seems like a lot. Might be better on the non toll roads.

Run I94 east out of Indiana Harbor and drop down US23 south from I94 right into Toledo. I live here and thats how I always go. I'm cheap. if you are going east out of Toledo, take 23 south to 475 east to 75 north to 280 south to Route 2 (which is the Lake Erie Circle Tour Route). Connects right up to 90 on the west side of Cleveland and 90 east will take you to PA and on to NY. No tolls at all and Route 2 is a very pretty drive and at least 3/4 of it is limited access 70 per highway.

[SidecarFlip]

Rygar wrote:
That might be a better plan. I looked up the EZPass and it requires a transponder. That doesn't seem practical for me.

They all use a transponder, thats how it determines you pass under the detector.

[Rygar]

Just a question, but do you have to buy or rent the transponder?

[Rustycamperpant]

Tyler0215 wrote:
DO NOT take !90 thru Chicago to the Skyway. Way to much traffic at any time day or night.
! 39 to ! 80 is the way to go unless you absolutely need to go thru Chicago.
Can't help you with the tolls. Check the Indiana toll road and Ohio toll road websites.

^^ THIS X2. I39 to I 80 is the best way to go, I live farther east so I always take state route 47 south to I80. Any time you think you may save going 294 or worse yet, through the city you will lose unless you come through midight or 1am.

You can call the tollway comission in each state and they will figure for you what the cost will be. Most tolls are not bad with Ipass except Pa. Wow, they really sock it to you there! Ipass woeks any place EZ pass does.

[Padlin]

I know you're not going this far but just to put out the info.

MA just changed over to high speed electronic tolling only, no more toll booths. If you do not have EZ-pass they mail you a bill based on your license plate. The signs on the Pike show the fee for out of state ez-pass is marginally more then in state, but it is close to double for mailed bills.

[JohnG3]

In Southern California the Toll road in Orange county closed all the toll booths and instituted an online toll payment procedure. Photo of license plates accesses your account and automatically debits the amount of the toll.

Even has the option to register a rental car for a few days.

Might check in on that option in Illinois.

We went on I 80 from Elkhart through the toll roads I 15 this past April. The tolls were not expensive as I recall.

[Rygar]

Ya, I think I've got it figured out. Avoiding the Skyway it looks like it's about $90. for tolls from North of Chicago to the east side of Ohio. Seems like a lot. Might be better on the non toll roads.

[rk911]

Tyler0215 wrote:
DO NOT take !90 thru Chicago to the Skyway. Way to much traffic at any time day or night.
! 39 to ! 80 is the way to go unless you absolutely need to go thru Chicago.
Can't help you with the tolls. Check the Indiana toll road and Ohio toll road websites.

I meant to comment on that as well. totally agree with tyler...avoid the city unless you have some pressing reason to enter it. traffic is terrible. I-39 south to I-80 east into Indiana is the way to go. only one toll booth on I-80 and that's where it meets up with I-294 (tri-state tollway). if you must be north then I-90 (northwest tollway) east to I-294 south to I-80 or I-90 east to I-290 east (freeway) to I-355 south (toll road) to I-80 east. lots of traffic but not nearly as bad as going thru the city.

[Tyler0215]

DO NOT take !90 thru Chicago to the Skyway. Way to much traffic at any time day or night.
! 39 to ! 80 is the way to go unless you absolutely need to go thru Chicago.
Can't help you with the tolls. Check the Indiana toll road and Ohio toll road websites.

[rk911]

Rygar wrote:
Whoops, IPass talks about a transponder as well.

the transponder is a small plastic box a little bigger than a paclk of cigarettes. it affixes to the inside of your windshield. Illinois charges different rates depending on the day of week and time of day. check the Illinois toll road website for details.

[sch911]

Yes they all require a transponder. The iPass one is used in any vehicle as long as you enter that vehicle's licence plate info into their web site. And it works fine in our 41Ft DP as well.

[Mortimer_Brewst]

Here's a trip calculator that you can use to figure out the toll cost for Illinois. In Illinois tolls are double for those without a transponder.
Are you open to a route change? If you go through Milwaukee I would recommend I-294 (Tri-State Tollway) and go around Chicago.
If you go through Madison you have 3 options.
1. I-39 to I-80 Extra hour or so, much cheaper on tolls, best for traffic
2. I-90 to I-290 to I-355 to I-80 Extra 15-20 minutes when compared to option 3. Roads are tolls but pretty good. Better traffic than I-294
3. I-90 to I-290 to I-294 to I-80

Chicago traffic can be bad at any time of day. I would avoid the city unless you're going through in the middle of the night. Even then there can be lane closures.
In general, the farther out from the city the better the traffic. Google Maps is your friend.

[Rygar]

Whoops, IPass talks about a transponder as well.

[Rygar]

That might be a better plan. I looked up the EZPass and it requires a transponder. That doesn't seem practical for me.