Chicago evening traffic

[Going Broke]

Hopefully someone from the Chicago area can help me on this one. We will be driving to WDW in October from WI. Is there a time that the traffic starts to run smoothly through Chicago? (We would be leaving on a Wed. afternoon/evening).

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

You can expect significant delays from about 2pm through 7 or 8pm. This time frame can vary widely, for no apparent reason. If possible, avoid 90/94 south of the city (Dan Ryan Expressway), they're doing extensive construction and the traffic is a nightmare.

 

[espana94]

Where in WI? Which highway will you be using to get out of WI? 90 or 94? That can make a big difference. If you are coming out of the Madison area on 90, you can route around the city and avoid some of the traffic. If you are coming on 94 from Milwaukee and surrounds, you are better off to leave late morning or late evening. Getting around the lake into IN is awful from about 2 pm until 7 or 8.

We really only have two seasons in Chicago -- Winter and CONSTRUCTION!

Espana

 

[paladin]

And if you happen to hit bad weather that day, all bets are off . As has been mentioned though, you should be okay if before 2ish or after 7-8ish.

 

[nuke]

No matter what try not to hit anything close to Chicago around 4pm. That seems to be the worse time coming from the North. Also on Fridays all bets are off. Traffic starts about 2pm on Fridays. Also if it happens to start raining people all of a sudden don't know how to drive and everything backs up.

 

[Going Broke]

Thanks for all the info. We will be coming from Racine. On our last trip down south we actually went out to Rockford. It added a bit more time but I guess we avoided all Chicago traffic hassles. This trip we were kinda hoping to get through Chicago so we'll just adjust our time accordingly.