Commute from Rockford to Grand Rapids? (Walker, Forest Hills: construction, live in, suburbs)

[rschmitty]

Hello relocating to Grand Rapids in August just wondering on commutes to Grand Rapids.


How bad is 131 south from Rockford to Grand Rapids? Or possibly 44?

Looking to arrive in GR before 7am


I've heard anything east is a long commute (or at least longer than the western equivalent)

[rschmitty]

disregard, i meant i've heard commutes from west (holland/zeeland)there can be traffic so we are looking at forest hills or rockford area. How bad is commute from rockford (even remote rockford - NE tip) into downtown GR? At rush-hour? At off-peak times? How about Lowell (far east tip) in?

[mich2fla]

I live in Forest Hills. My commute to and from work is almost like reverse commute, meaning there's more traffic on the opposite side of the highway. I take I-96 East from Cascade road to the Walker Ave exit. I sometimes drive through downtown on I-196 East. It takes me 20 minutes to go 18 miles each way.

I have been doing it for 9 years and very rarely get in a traffic jam. Usually it's an accident or some road construction.

My co-workers commute from Rockford...they deal with much more traffic in the morning and on the way home. I live 4 miles further and my commute is 10 mins shorter each way compared to Kurt's commute from the Rockford exit at 10 Mile road.

Coming from Lowell, it's pretty similar commute from Ada/FH. Just be careful of the north and south traffic on 131.

Good luck!

[magellan]

Originally Posted by rschmitty

disregard, i meant i've heard commutes from west (holland/zeeland)there can be traffic so we are looking at forest hills or rockford area. How bad is commute from rockford (even remote rockford - NE tip) into downtown GR? At rush-hour? At off-peak times? How about Lowell (far east tip) in?

That depends. If you're on the South side of Rockford (Belmont, Plainfield Township), then maybe 20 minutes to downtown. If you're North of 10 Mile Road and/or East of M-44 Northland Drive, then it might be more like 30 minutes.

Lowell is maybe 20 - 25 minutes to downtown. Most of Forest Hills is within 15 minutes of downtown.

[suydam]

In my experience if you can find a commute that avoids the East Beltline (M-44) then you won't have bad traffic.

There really aren't any suburbs in Grand Rapids that have a "bad" commute.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by suydam

In my experience if you can find a commute that avoids the East Beltline (M-44) then you won't have bad traffic.

There really aren't any suburbs in Grand Rapids that have a "bad" commute.

Not necessarily. On the Northeast side, the Beltline is only really bad between Knapp and Leonard. And that's only leading up to 8:00. After that it's pretty good.