Louisville/Indy traffic on a Sunday afternoon?

[luvavacation]

Leaving for Disney soon, and I have done some research here on traffic and construction for the Northern IL/Indiana route. We are in the far, far west suburbs of Chicago, and usually take 88 - 355 - 80 - 65 and down. This time, we are picking up my daughter in Fort Wayne, so I see that it will be easy enough to avoid the Indy/Louisville construction by going through Cincinnati. Thanks for that tip (frantically rearranging hotels for that first night - too old to to drive straight through, we like our sleep!)!

On the return, DD's husband will be picking her up at 65 and 30, to save us the drive out of our way to Fort Wayne, as we will be in hurry to make it to the kennel in time to pick up our dogs. This means that we will be driving through Louisville and Indy on a Sunday afternoon. How is the construction and traffic then? I am assuming there is no road work on a Sunday, so hopefully traffic will be moving? Or is the bridge from Kentucky to IN awful no matter what time of day?

Or are we just better off going through Cincinnati again, as the delays would negate any time savings by going our normal way through KY/IN?

Finally, by taking this route we enter Chattanooga through 75. Never having done this before, are we heading through mountains? Is it similar to the mountains on the Highway 24 route? If so, I need to make sure I drive it, as my DH likes to, in his words, "let the big dog run", i.e. not use the brakes as we go back down the mountain. Scares me completely, so since he has no navigational skills and doesn't ever really know where we are (patience in traffic is his strength, mine is navigation), I convince him to let me drive before the mountains and then he naps, and voila, we are at Nickajack Lake (and I am still not pleased that the rest stop there is closed, after all these years - that was a beautiful rest stop when heading south)!

Thank you for any information!

 

[grimley1968]

Finally, by taking this route we enter Chattanooga through 75. Never having done this before, are we heading through mountains? Is it similar to the mountains on the Highway 24 route? If so, I need to make sure I drive it, as my DH likes to, in his words, "let the big dog run", i.e. not use the brakes as we go back down the mountain. Scares me completely, so since he has no navigational skills and doesn't ever really know where we are (patience in traffic is his strength, mine is navigation), I convince him to let me drive before the mountains and then he naps, and voila, we are at Nickajack Lake (and I am still not pleased that the rest stop there is closed, after all these years - that was a beautiful rest stop when heading south)!

Driving by Chattanooga on I-75 is a lot easier than on I-24. First, you don't have to drive through the city on I-75, unlike I-24 which goes pretty much straight through town. Second, I-75 stays west of the mountains. That's not to say there aren't some some steep grades here and there (there definitely are), but it's nothing like, for instance, I-40. To be honest, we barely even notice we're passing Chattanooga when we're on I-75, except for a slight increase in traffic volume.

As for Louisville traffic on a Sunday afternoon, I doubt you'll have any problems. I don't know if they'll actually be doing construction work on a Sunday, but traffic should be light enough that it won't make much difference. If this route is fewer miles for you than going via Cincy, I'd take it on a Sunday afternoon. Rush hour on a weekday? I might consider the Cincy route, but I think I-65 will be fine on a Sunday.

 

[LadyBeBop]

You'll hit mountains going the Cincinnati-Lexington-Knoxville route; however they're all north of Knoxville. They're steep, but not winding. From what I hear, the mountains between Nashville and Chattanooga are much worse. (I can't say...I've never been on I-24 south going into Chattanooga.)

Navigation wise, the Cincinnati route is much easier (if only because you don't have to deal with Nashville...I hate going through Nashville...love the city, hate the driving). You just have to remember, once you exit from Indiana into Ohio on I-74, to exit on I-275 south. That's only a few miles into Ohio. That way, you miss Cincinnati completely. However, if you miss it, no problem. I-74 dead ends into I-75 just north of downtown. You'll hit Cincinnati traffic that way. But most times, it's not too bad.

You also have to remember; I-75 and I-64 are the same road for a few miles around Lexington. And I-75 and I-40 are the same road for about 20 miles in Knoxville.

Good luck.

 

[luvavacation]

Just wanted to thank you for the route suggestion heading South, as it was perfect!

We hit construction in a few places, but traffic merely slowed down, it never stopped. The roads were good, and it seemed to be a much easier drive than our normal route on 65/24/75. Only delay was approaching Atlanta. At 3:00 p.m., traffic was jammed up 20 minutes out, and even the HOV lane was stopped. Ahh, Atlanta, you never fail to stop our progression.

So a great route, and it sure was nice to see some new scenery, too! Thanks again!