O'Hare/Downtown Rush Hour (Chicago, Wheaton: live, delivery, vacation)

[brightw]

What time would be the earliest evening time you would want to be driving into the O'Hare area and through to Indiana and beyond via I-90/94 and the Chicago Skyway? We'll be starting in Madison, WI. Although we've done the trip many times in the past, we haven't for awhile. Also, if we left here in the morning instead, how about the earliest time after morning rush hour to drive through? Thanks for any advice.

[chet everett]

If what you asking is "when should we leave Madison so we don't hit ANY traffic on the Northwest Toll/90 -Kennedy/Ryan - Skyway to get to Indiana I would have to say you have to be on the Skyway before about 6:30 AM to miss any of the AM rush. I know there are instances when this might be excessively early, but since any sort of slow down on the any portion of 294 would push you way into the heart of rush hour I'm going err to side of caution. Madison is about 150 miles from the Skyway, figure 2.5 hours. Load up the kids at 4AM to be most sure you won't be sitting in traffic...

On the other end there is just about NO time in the evening that you can be guaranteed smooth sailing -- the problem is that the rush hour is extending until after 7PM and then there are after hours road work that go until LATE at night, then you get the "entertainment in the City" crowd on the roads just about every night of the week. Sunday night you even vacationers headed back into Illinois. Honestly even leaving Madison at 9PM you might be sitting in traffic, odds are not strong that it would be bumper-to-bumper but I have seen it, and I'm sure others have too.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Where are you trying to go? Are you wanting to drive through downtown Chicago, specifically? You can bypass the city via i-294.

[brightw]

Thanks for the replies. We actually want to be passing by O'Hare after the morning rush is over rather than before it starts. I don't mind lots of traffic, just hope to avoid times it would be the most congested.

We are making our way to Rochester, NY. Do you think the I-294 route would be faster at night?

As to other routes, we used to find it faster to go straight through on 94, but maybe that has changed. We could go down I39 and across on 88 in the evening, or actually go all the way to

[brightw]

Sorry for the last reply, I meant to end it saying "we could drive all the way to 80!"

[chet everett]

I'm with the OP -- unless I am starting my trip someplace south of Stevenson or west of Wheaton I think the Skyway is the way to go -- 294 is just not that good of a by-pass even with improvements in the 80/294 junction.

The problem with trying to hit O'Hare area "after the morning rush" is that lately the "rush" continues from the AM commuters through the mid-morning delivery and long haul truckers, into the afternoon with extra loading for baseball games and lunch goers, and then sort of blends into the whole early leaving evening rush hour -- further the commute is very much "bi-directional" with nearly as many people needed to get out to of the City as in at every phase.

Overnight is much less likely to be a jam, but even then the shear number of "through haul" truckers that will be attempting something not that different than what you are doing (going from state-to-state but not stopping in Illinois) is amazingly high even at 4AM...

[Avengerfire]

I would leave at like 7-8 pm from Madison.

[jdiddy]

I suppose if you arrive at the O´hare area by 10 am, you´ll probably encounter less traffic. Chances are you´ll still find yourself in some traffic though, that´s just the nature of the Kennedy.