rush hour on west irving park road (Hoffman Estates, Addison: house, construction)

[bcrowe224]

Hello everyone -

I will be moving to chicago for the summer and I had a question about the morning commute. I'll be working in the suburbs and will need to get on kennedy. If I were to live on the north side (near wrigely field), how bad would a 4 mile commute on west irving park road be in order to get to the interstate?

Thanks.

[tomasvzqz]

I did this for many years. When Irving was under construction a few years back, it was bad. but now, i think the commute from wrigley to the kennedy can be done in 15 min or less. If you leave the house by 7am it's even better.

[Drover]

15 minutes or less? Are you serious? It takes my wife over 10 minutes to get on the Kennedy at Irving Park and we only live a few blocks from the Kennedy/Irving intersection. So now she goes down to Addison instead even though it's a much less direct route.

Getting right up to the Kennedy won't be too bad, though I think 15 minutes during rush hour might be a little optimistic. Getting on the Kennedy is going to suck because that is one of the most poorly engineered on-ramps on the entire expressway, made all the worse by a sequence of stop lights with lousy timing. You may actually be better off going down Addison because getting onto the Kennedy from Addison is a much more straight-forward affair.

Then once you get on, expect another 20 to 30 minutes just to get to the airport.

[andrew61]

I did that same commute for some years. That stretch of Irving Park shouldn't be too bad, depending on what time you leave in the morning (the earlier, the better). I'd say 15-20 minutes.

Coming home on some evenings during the summer could be a problem, however... you might get stuck in Cubs traffic.

Keep in mind that the reverse commute on the Kennedy can be bad in and of itself. Long stretches where you can only do 5-15 mph are not uncommon. Consider alternate routes such as Elston Avenue, etc. (if you tell us how far out you need to go, I can be more specific).

[Drover]

If anything the reverse commute on the Kennedy is worse because you don't have the express lanes working in your favor.

The only times I'd consider Elston as an alternative is when the expressways are jam-packed even though it's not rush hour, much like the inbound Kennedy is on every Friday night. Otherwise, do NOT consider Elston Avenue as an alternative during rush hour. It's a parking lot during rush hour precisely because everyone is trying to use it as an alternative.

[Lookout Kid]

Irving Park Road is the fastest east/west artery on the North Side, hands down. However, Dover is completely correct about that ramp to the Kennedy. To go Northwest you have to drive under the Kennedy, turn right, turn right again to go back under the Kennedy, and then turn left onto the ramp. It's a total mess and has multiple stoplights to gum up the works.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Drover

The only times I'd consider Elston as an alternative is when the expressways are jam-packed even though it's not rush hour, much like the inbound Kennedy is on every Friday night. Otherwise, do NOT consider Elston Avenue as an alternative during rush hour. It's a parking lot during rush hour precisely because everyone is trying to use it as an alternative.

I found that to be very true during the evening commute home, but not so much during the morning commute out. I used to work in Hoffman Estates and often I'd skip the Kennedy altogether, instead taking Elston to Milwaukee to Devon to the Northwest Tollway, and that route was fine. I think I merely broke even timewise vs. taking the Kennedy, but the route kept moving which was better for my sanity.

(Disclaimer: I used to leave as early as 6 am, started work at 7 am. Doing the route an hour or two later than that might not yield as good results.)

You're right as far as evening rush hour goes... there are no decent alternate routes then.

[Drover]

Well I can tell you that leaving at 6am makes a big difference. By 7:15, both Elston and Milwaukee (south of Bryn Mawr anyway) are more clogged than Chris Farley's arteries.

[Drover]

In the 1/4 mile sequence depicted in the illustration below provided by Lookout Kid, there are FIVE stoplights. And that's not including the flow-control stoplight on the onramp itself. Count that one and it's six. That's how stupid that on-ramp is. So take Irving Park west to Kimball, then hang a left and take it to Addison, than hang a right and get on from there.

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Irving Park Road is the fastest east/west artery on the North Side, hands down. However, Dover is completely correct about that ramp to the Kennedy. To go Northwest you have to drive under the Kennedy, turn right, turn right again to go back under the Kennedy, and then turn left onto the ramp. It's a total mess and has multiple stoplights to gum up the works.

[Avengerfire]

Why cant they just build a new access road from Irving Park to Keeler north of the expressway? I think there is a CTA turnaround right there on Irving Park but that can be relocated. I am trying to picture in my head what else is back there. I hardly think it cannot be built fairly easily. It would make too much sense I suppose.