Chicago

[mikell]

Were just west of Chicago and get lots of campers that want to know whats the best plan to get passed headed west. From what I understand it's a 9-5 rule anytime between 9 and 5 the traffic is best. Either morning or night

[captbru]

Chicago is a tough place. Being from there I would suggest more of a 10-4 approach. The weekends are also a great time to travel through, but not always in the travel plans.

[campingcpl]

Living just an hour east of Chicago we run into this problem a lot specialy traveling west. The best time we have found to try and pass through is either early morning (12:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.) or late night (7:00 p.m. - midnight). I try to avoid morning (7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.) and early evening (4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.), mid day (9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.) can sometimes be a hit or miss depending on your route. Normally going east or west through Chigago your best route would be I80. You will have 1 toll booth to go through and traffic moves pretty good untill you get past the toll both then it gets a little congested east of the toll booth. If you want to avoid some of the congestion of the interstate you can take a little more southernly route that will have starts and stops with no tolls. This would be going east or west and will bypass the interstate traffic. From the west take US 30 east (exit 137) off I80 to I65 north. This will take you back up to I80/94 and will bring you out on the other side of the heaviest congestion. From the east take exit 12B off I80/94 onto I65 south. Take I65 south to US30 west (exit 253). As for going north or south, the hours of travel would still apply. As for road options you have I90, I94, I294 & I290, it all depends on how much you want to pay in tolls. I90 will have tolls from the I90/94 split and all the way through Indiana plus it will go through the heart of Chicago. I94 will have the lease amount of tolls but will have probably the most heaviest traffic and will also go through down town. I294 & I290 will have the most tolls but will be the lease congested going west around the downtown area. I hope this helps someone out with planning a trip through Chicago.