Good Way to Bypass Chicago?

Where are you starting from in Michigan? If it is the UP you can take I-39 through Rockford. If it is Detroit, you can Take I-69 through INndianapolis, then I70 over.

kcgpsfan. I-80 is probably the quickest route through the southern suburbs of Chicago. The rain you encountered was one of those hundred year rains. I-80 was just re-engineered and rebuilt in that area. So long as you don't hit it at rush hour (3-6pm), you should be ok. Your GPS should give you alternate routes, just in case. ps I've lived in the Chicago area all of my 50 years. I'm not bragging. It is just a fact of life!

Wherever you see a sign that says "Chicago XX miles"?
Go the opposite way! Let the geepus recalc.

I live in the burbs of chitcago.. Trust me.

Even if it's a little out of the way.....I-69 or I-75 south to I-70.

I-80/90 across N. Indiana over to about Joliet is a real SOB. You are just about guaranteed to have a problem somewhere along there, even when it is not raining.

Just reading the title of this thread, it dawned on me, just as there are settings for avoiding u-turns, toll roads, etc., there should be a setting to avoid Chicago, or New York, or L.A....

Your idea of bypassing Chicago is a good idea, at least to me. Lot of construction, heavy trucks, possible delays.

If you take I-65 South to Indiana 10 / Illinois 114 to Illinois 1 to Illinois 17 to Kankakee similar to what you suggested.

Ind 10 is a good road, lightly traveled and you can make good time.

According to Mapsource, your penalty for this detour is 6 extra miles and 33 minutes. But, you will have a much lower stress drive. A bit of possible traffic congestion in Chicago, and it's a push.

The last I saw of news reports is that I-80/94 is still closed due to flooding.

Good luck on bypassing it. If you were heading north my brothers swear by the Toll Road and the Chicago Skyway. I have heard others go through Merrivlle.

I live in the western suburbs of Chicago and have family in Holland and Detroit. So I feel your pain. I've lived here for 50 years and that I-80 portion just south of Chicago has always been difficult. Coming from Michigan, I'm sure you're not at all used to bumper to bumper heavy traffic like that.

Any time we we have to "go around the tip" we time our drive so we pass through that section like at 6:00 AM or 1:00 PM. ANYTHING other than at peak travel times. The secondary roads will be full of traffic and stop lights; not generally much faster.

You have to go pretty far south to Indianapolis to catch the next major east-west interstate. If you really hate the heavy traffic, shoot down to US30 and pick up I-80 again near Joliet. I don't think it will be any faster, but it might be more relaxing for you.

As for your flood, that was a once-in-50-years rainstorm; Hurricane Ike reaching all the way up here. We got over 10 inches of rain on Saturday the 13th and it continued raining on Sunday. 4 days later, portions of I-80 are still closed due to flooding. As well as many other secondary roads. You were lucky to have made it through when you did.

ain't all that bad but I'd pay extra for that feature as well LOL!

Ted

It sounds like OP is asking his question in general terms and is not planning a trip in the near future, but right now, the entire I-80 corridor near the Illinois-Indiana border just south of Chicago is having severe problems with flooding and traffic congestion trying to get around the flooding-- this from the rains three days ago. A long section of I-80 near Hammond indeed remains closed due to flooding. (Please note the date of this post: September 17, 2008. We hope conditions will improve soon, but there is no ETA yet.) Alternates are so bad that if you're coming north on I-65 from Indianapolis towards Chicago, the last 60 miles of I-65 from US24 north to I-80 also remains closed to traffic. (Southbound I-65 is open.) The problem is not that I-65 is flooded. The problem is that all the major east-west roads that people take to avoid I-80, including US30 in Merrillville, are either flooded or clogged with traffic trying to detour around floods.

Also note that I-65 remains closed in both directions between I-90 and I-80/I-94 for the foreseeable future due to major reconstruction.

If I were going from eastern lower peninsula to Missouri, I agree with the suggestion to take I-69 south to the Indy area and then getting to either I-74 west or I-70 west, depending on your Missouri destination.

From western lower peninsula, I'd take US33 south to I-69 south to the Indy area and then... as above.

From upper peninsula, I'd always avoid Chicago by getting to and using I-39 south in Wisconsin down to I-55 south in Illinois.

I have no knowledge of conditions on those alternates. They may have their own problems. I'm just looking at a map. But yes, you want to avoid the Chicago area when going from Michigan to Missouri, especially now because of the flooding. Even when the floods recede, truck traffic in particular is horrendous through this corridor. It was much worse up until a year or two ago due to construction. But it's still bad, particularly during commuting times of day, including the busiest times of summer weekends.

All the suggestions were great. I think in the future going on I69 and west on I70 might be better for me. Traffic jams are bad enough, but we're one of the few that shift the car manually, that's a lot of work for me and the clutch.

This area has reopened to traffic within the past day.

I lived in Chicago area for 25 years. I learned many things about driving in Chicago.
Here's how they drive.... they close their eyes, floorboard the accelerator and drive so fast and so loud that it scares everyone out of the way. Kind of an arrogant way to drive, I think.

Another thing about Chicago is the seasons. They have only 3 seasons during a year:
Snow season - driving is hampered because of snow and ice.

Pot hole season - Spring time when a pot hole can swallow your car!

Construction season - Working on roads with detours everywhere.

During these seasons, it is wise to not go near Chicago.

Your mostly right..But I dont know about the closing eyes part... Well.. Ok..they only close their eyes thru intersections.

My DAILY driver is a 492 HP Firebird Formula (see my avatar). Its a nice piece of gear to maneuver thru th uninsured masses of 20 year old chebbies

Bingo!
But there IS a 'secret'. There is a small window of about 18 hours in the middle of October where it is safe. Sorry, I can't tell you 'exactly' when that is cuz if I do..our gov'ner will send a bunch of union guys over to my home for some 'contract reviews'.

My mother use to live in the boot-heal (SE corner of MO) and I lived in the Detroit area. The fastest route for me was to go through Indianapolis to St Louis, then down to Poplar Bluff instead of anywhere near the Chicago area. Yes, it's farther and you can sometimes get caught in rush hour around Indy, too, but it's always worked out better for me.

I just found out that my cousin and his wife were traveling back to Michigan during that rain storm. It took them 12 or 13 hours from Chicago to the Grand Rapids area. They were re-routed all over Chicago, roads were under water and it was a real mess. The real tragedy was that my cousin was traveling with his mother! I can only imagine the cackling cacaphony they were subjected to in the back seat. I doubt they had a sexy GPS voice to drown her out.
Now I thank the Good Lord that we only had one traffic tie-up. We were real fortunate. I still want to bypass the area though. Going to Indianapolis sounds like a plan.

A few years back I made the mistake of going on a road trip with my mother-in-law. Now I carry a roll of duct tape in my car, just in case!!

Do they have an 'avoid mother-in-law' feature???

I'm with ya.. the best way to really avoid Chicago traffic is time! Leave before say 5am or after about 9pm it's the only thing that really works around here.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/19882

That might be an all time record that'll hold up for a long time.

Perhaps a better way is to go via St. Louis? At least it isn't Chicago. Of course you may want to stay away from the entire state and their Governor.

Ok, I've read enough about this so called scary traffic and I'm going to tell you how to get around in the traffic without getting killed and keeping your sanity.

As a professional driver, I've learned quite a few tricks to getting around.

Now you say, "You've got a big truck and I have a small car." Big deal. A vehicle is a vehicle no matter what size.

First, when traffic starts building up, slow to the speed limit, which no one does anyway. Now you'll notice that a hole opens up in front of you. Nice! Now you have a safety cushion. Don't worry about the idiots that want to crowd you from behind. They can't do anything except to try to intimidate you. If they want to pass, they'll pass. And you'll get evil looks to boot. So what!

Second, when it comes to bumper-to-bumper traffic, pick a lane. No matter how slow it goes, stay with it. Changing lanes only adds to the confusion. YOU WILL COME OUT AT THE OTHER END!

Ever notice how big trucks line up? Notice that their lane is running smoothly. Not faster, smoother. No suddens stops, starts or turns. At that point I usually grab a drink and a sandwich or something to eat. Ok, now if you want to drive with the big boys, first you have to get into their line. BEFORE you start crossing, turn you're directionals on. Wait for them to make you an opening and THEN take it. Not a bad idea to wave a thank you either. We appreciate that. Then make sure to drive with the traffic. No sudden stops, starts or turns.

Very good. Now, if you aren't with the trucks in heavy traffic going slow, gauge traffic speed by the third or fourth car in front of you while watching out for the guy in front of you. Judge you're speed to keep the same distance without braking or stomping on the gas.

There, no stress, gray hairs or killing. You're through.

My good deed is done!

Quite well done. Here's another set of tips based on a memory hook of Give Kids Lunch Money.

G - Get the big picture by looking at least 30 seconds ahead so you can anticipate what the traffic stream is doing.

K - Keep your distance. It's not the idiot behind me I'm worried about, it's running into the person in front because I'm following too close to react when they hit the brakes.

L - Leave yourself an out. Can you move over a lane or stop if there is a problem in front or beside you? Leave yourself some maneuvering room.

M - Mirrors - Use 'em! For us 4 wheelers, the one inside the car is the rear view mirror. The ones on the side are side view mirrors so you can see what's coming up beside you not behind you. You should stop seeing the vehicle coming up beside you in the mirror just about the time you see the front bumper even with your door.

Finally, it's all about courtesy. Let that idiot in, you'll both get to the stop light at about the same time, and chances are when they keep changing lanes, you'll pull ahead.

The best way to avoid traffic in chicago is to not go to chicago in the first place.

If you thought it was bad before, you haven't been through Chicago this winter. Due to budgetary controls, Mayor Daley announced this year that the city was cutting back on snow plowing and concentrating on the main arteries vs side streets. And we have had a LOT of snow and ice this year.

Besides, we're too busy with impeaching our Governor to be bothered with street maintenance right now.

Be sure and stay current with your POI Factory Red Light camera files before you visit. Chicago announced that they plan to add an additional ~300 cameras over the next year or two. We want to be sure we offer you-all a nice down-home Midwestern "welcome" when you pass through!

Who's in YOUR wallet?

That's a good one. Here in Utah they are talking about raising the gat tax because we have cut back on our useage so now they aren't getting enough money.

I've been pissed off at mayor Daley ever since he had Meigs Field illegally bulldozed in the middle of the night.

Have not been to Chicago since.

A "gat tax" for your machine gun (I know, a typo).

I don't think I have ever had much trouble circling Indianapolis, so that sounds like a better path from E.MI to MO than the butt of Lake Michigan (higher speed limits too).

Although, I did have a car with an ECU glitch once that stalled right in front of Motor Speedway while Nascar fans were leaving.