# How bad is chicago traffic in the lockdown **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798 "2020-07-09T01:21:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/1 "2020-07-09T01:21:14Z")
I’m going to be traveling from Indianapolis to Wisconsin soon, either on a friday evening or a saturday morning. With the virus lockdown, I assume traffic isn’t as bad as normal. In the past I’ve taken the 94 into town and didn’t really find it that bad on evenings and weekends, but I only drove to about 60th street (didn’t go north of that). I didn’t go through the main downtown area or anything on the 94. How is the 294? Is going all the way to the 355 to avoid the city overkill? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/2 "2020-07-09T01:38:07Z")
Traffic is picking up again. In March and April you could just fly as fast as you wanted, but now it is getting back to a normalish level. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/3 "2020-07-09T01:44:43Z")
There are no "the"s in Chicago freeway names. It’s “294”, “94”, etc. You don’t want to be pegged as a foreigner. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/4 "2020-07-09T01:48:27Z")
Traffic inbound to the city on all of the expressways is usually pretty tight on Friday nights; though we’re in “Phase 4” of the reopening in both Chicago and the suburbs (in other words, the “lockdown” is largely gone), big social gatherings are still prohibited, so I’d expect that it might be less than usual now. And, Saturday mornings are usually pretty light, regardless. If you’re concerned about possible traffic, and are going to come through on Friday night, 294 might still be a better option. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/5 "2020-07-09T01:52:10Z")
By the way, I’m no Mapquest, but is it a crazy idea to head west out of Indy to Champaign, then head north on I-57? you could take I-57 to 294 (Just north of I-80). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/6 "2020-07-09T01:57:10Z")
Assuming traffic isn’t substantially worse in taking 65 to 94, the route you suggest (74 west to Champaign, then 57 north) looks like it’d add about an hour to the trip, according to Google Maps. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/7 "2020-07-09T02:01:37Z")
I only mention it because it seems like I-65 and the I-80 area near the Indiana border seem to always have traffic that is fucked. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/8 "2020-07-09T02:04:06Z")
True enough, and I’ve sat in my share of traffic jams there while coming back to the Chicago area from Indy. That said, on summer weekends, it’s usually the eastbound (i.e., away from Chicago) part of that stretch that’s bad on Friday nights, as people leave Illinois for Indiana and Michigan for the weekend. On Saturday mornings, I’d only expect that stretch to be problematic if there’s an accident. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/9 "2020-07-09T02:07:09Z")
Cool. OP, you should have come through here in March and April. It was amazing! Pedal to the metal! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/10 "2020-07-09T02:40:50Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > There are no "the"s in Chicago freeway names. It’s “294”, “94”, etc. You don’t want to be pegged as a foreigner. I’m not stopping I’m just driving through. I am a foreigner. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/11 "2020-07-09T06:16:37Z")
I concur with other posters. In March and April, Chicago traffic was a ghost town. Driving was so pleasant that it was scary. But now, things are back to their hellish normal levels. 294 is always horrible. Going all the way to 355 is an excellent idea to avoid the city traffic. Lots more miles, but lots fewer headaches. Probably a toss-up on travel time. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/12 "2020-07-09T14:39:17Z")
So how does traffic on Friday night around 7-8pm compare to Saturday around noon ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/13 "2020-07-09T16:04:23Z")
I’d check current conditions on approach to the city and take it from there. It’s really hard to guess whether Friday or Saturday will be better but I doubt either will be terrible unless there are complete closures for bridge or Burn interchange work or something. [Travelmidwest.com](http://Travelmidwest.com) is pretty good for all three states. Check the nifty Reports options. For my commute, traffic is still way, way down from normal. I get on the outbound Kennedy in the morning and have to be doing at least 60 at the bottom of the ramp to properly merge with the others. Normally, that would be maybe 5-15 mph due to thousands of cars. Coming back in during the evening, things slow down a little near Cumberland but open up again after Harlem. Normally, it’s backed up to the Rosemont toll plaza and heavy the rest of the way in. > [@needscoffee](#): > > There are no "the"s in Chicago freeway names. It’s “294”, “94”, etc. You don’t want to be pegged as a foreigner. True if using the interstate numbers but few do that. It’s the Tristate, the Dan Ryan, the Kennedy, the Edens, etc. Also, I don’t think we often use the term freeway. 294 is a tollway. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-chicago-traffic-in-the-lockdown/914798/14 "2020-07-09T17:05:55Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > True if using the interstate numbers but few do that. It’s the Tristate, the Dan Ryan, the Kennedy, the Edens, etc. Also, I don’t think we often use the term freeway. 294 is a tollway. If they’re not tolls, they’re expressways! Which gets weird outside of Chicagoland. San Jose has expressways, but they’re just surface roads with semi-restricted access and traffic lights. The Outer Drive is about as close as Chicago gets to the California definition of expressway.