An Alternative Route to London

[Badman]

Guys,

I believe by leaving at 4:00AM you’ll miss the 80/94 road work/congestion debacle. Since I’m a morning person; I definitely plan to be ahead of rush hour traffic and kicking back with an ice cold Heineken about noon London time.

[RedSnake351]

[quote=Badman]Guys,

I believe by leaving at 4:00AM you’ll miss the 80/94 road work/congestion debacle. QUOTE]
Frank, is there any office or department in Chicago one can call to see what the traffic is like at that time? There may be live cameras set up on some of the major roads that show real-time traffic, I know other cities have them.
Ralph

[snake oil]

That would be State funded and I think Rod gave the money to rebuild a church

[snake oil]

Hey guys, I found this , it might help.
wbbm traffic on line @
http://www.wbbm780.com/topic/traffic.php

[Badman]

Guys,

WBBM 780 radio is an excellent traffic and weather on the "eights" source.

I'm also on the Illinois Toll way e-mail list and receive periodic road updates. Their website address is: updates@openroadsahead.com

[red]

I talked to the Ill. State Police this morning, and they recomended the Skyway. They said that at that time of the morninig chances are good to get through on the Dan Ryan/Bishop Ford but that 80/94 is a lost cause. The Skyway has construction also but it dumps right into I-65. The Trooper said that nothing is guaranteed good at any time with all the construction, it could change bad in a moment and you would be stuck in the middle of it. I believe that the best chance to get through the smoothest is on I-57. I've been listening to WBBM/WGN traffic reports that said everything was beautiful while I was sitting in a traffic jam. Tom also said that there was no escape from the traffic jam,he was stuck in it and could'nt get out to an alternate route. I-57 is longer but much smoother.
These 2 Cracker Barrels are on the way in Ill.:


Bourbonnais, IL
I-57 , Exit# 315
I-57 & State Route 50
50 Ken Hayes Drive
Bourbonnais, IL 60914-9347
Located off I-57
* Bus & RV Parking Available
(815) 936-6022




Urbana, IL
I-74 , Exit# 184
I-74 & US 45
2101 North Kenyon Road
Urbana, IL 61802-1246
Located off I-74
* Bus & RV Parking Available
(217) 344-9087



6050 National Road East
Richmond IN 47374-2626
(765) 935-0881 I-70 & US 40

This CB is on the In./ Oh. border, too far out for breakfast
What are your ideas?

[Sizzler]

I went to the Columbus Ford Swap meet the first weekend in April. Drove there and back in one day.

Took the 80/94 route to 65 through Indianapolis then across to Columbus in the morning, early morning, 2 a.m. early morning. That wasn't too bad, but the lanes are a mess, trucks like that time too, did I mention the lanes were a mess? Narrow lanes, with BIG trucks right next to you trying to get through.

Anyway, very early in the morning, if there're no accidents, and it moves pretty well.

Any other time of day, or if there's any kind of 'incident', and you'll sit.

I came back through Champaign, stopped for Garcia's Pizza for old times sake, then up 57. Smooooooth sailing all the way. Just have to pay attention when going through Indianapolis to get to the Champaign route instead of 65.

Up 57 is a solid hour longer route, but no worries.

An excellent route for those who can get to the Skyway (LSD south to Stony to the Skyway is pretty good), is to just continue on the Indiana tollroad across the top of the state to Toledo, then head south. The maps show the roads south from Toledo to Columbus as two lane, non-major roads. But they're actually divided highways with 65mph speed limits and limited access. This is actually my preferred route nowadays. And for some reason, even though it's sort of a mirror image of the thru-Champaign route, it's faster. This is based on actual testing. And much mellower traffic.

I'd recommend the Toledo route. It has worked well for me. I don't know about how you might use it to get to London though. To Columbus, you come in from the north, to get to London, you'd probably want to take 75 south and then cut across on 70.

There was some major highway construction going on in Columbus on 70 by the river if anyone's planning on zooming through that area.

[red]

Sizzler
Thanks for the suggestion. What roads did you take from Toedo south to Columbus and are they good for trailers/

[RedSnake351]

[quote=Sizzler] I went to the Columbus Ford Swap meet the first weekend in April. Drove there and back ... [quote]

SIZZLER, thanks for the book, I couldn't stop reading and was up all night!
Seriously, good information and I will definitely reconsider going down Rt 39 to Champaign in the VERY early hours of Wednesday night in order to hit a couple of microbrew bars and then pick up Rt 74 towards Indianapolis.
Ralph

[Gary Dyck]

Guys,
I went to indy last weekend for daughters grad. We actually went through town at about 10:00am and it wasn't that bad to the Skyway. We flew from there as there was no construction on I-65 to Indy. I'm planning on taking that route on Monday the 19th. I could let somebody know how it was if there is a leader of the caravan, speak up. Coming back is the bad part when Skyway merges into 94. We took South LSD and LSD to get around it and although it wasn't the prettiest of rides, we got back on 94 just south of town in about an hour. Probably added a half hour to our trip but beat sitting in the 2 mile backup on Skyway.

[RichMusson]

Gary
I too plan on using the Skyway. Living in the city there is almost no way to avoid it.
I plan on leaving Wednesday afternoon. I feel that if I am on the road before 2:00 pm I should avoid most of the Ryan problems. My goal is to stay overnight in Indy and make Ohio the next day.
I would certainly appreciate a road condition update when you leave on Monday.
I also agree with you that the return trip will be the bigger issue. To make matters worse the Sox are in town that weekend.
Rich

[jeffko]

The Skyway is starting to make the best sense for getting to 65, especially if going thru before 6am. The odds of traffic jams and/or accidents go up dramatically the longer you wait after 6am. There is a construction around Cermak and the 65 80 split, but shouldn't be a problem before 6am. I would suggest whatever routes are taken that we meet in Merrillville around 65 & 30 to put the convoy together. Leave at 7am to be in Indy by 9:30 or so which is good timing to miss their traffic. It's 2 1/2 hours from there to London by noon or so although there is some road widening just before the exit to London from 70.

I prefer to eat after we get there and setup camp. Just pack a couple snacks and go. Unless the wife grabs my earplugs or the kids show real signs of pain...I don't usually stop.

It seems to me that do this will be London by 1pm.

The Toledo route is 50 miles longer which means an hour even drafting Arcy in warp drive.

What really matters is what time you leave!

[Sizzler]

50 miles longer through Toledo (area)? I did not know that.

To Columbus, and especially the Columbus fairgrounds, it might actually be the shorter route as you don't have to dip south and then come back north, you just angle right into the fairgrounds area.

Anyway, I gave it a (little) thought and I think I understand why I like the Toledo route better:

1) I measure progress by state lines. To Toledo, I get out of Illinois quickly via the Skyway. Across the top of Indiana is the shortest way across that state, and viola`! I'm in Ohio, which to me is most of the way there. Down 65 or down 57, either other way, I'm spending hours and hours in a state that isn't my destination state.

2) If it's only 50 miles longer (is that to Columbus or London?), then you may be using goverment accounting to measure trip length. Why? When I take a flashy car on an out-of-state road trip, I try to keep the speed at or close to the posted limit. Any route through Indianapolis involves something like 45 minutes to (seems like) an hour at 55mph or 45mph (depending on your exact route and direction). An hour (let's call it) at 10-20 mph slower makes 50 extra miles moot as the Toledo route misses most population centers that would bring the speed limit down. The couple you pass through are nowhere near the size of Indy. Not to mention, I am just real unhappy driving 55 mph anywhere for any length of time, and especially in the early am or weekends when there's no apparent traffic or need to do so.

The above two rationales are my own, your reasoning may differ. Whatever route you take, be careful.

[jeffko]

I planned on returning from London on Monday. Anyone else and if so what time? Gotta love a four day work week precceded by a three day work week! We would need to be back in the Chicago area no later than 2:00.

[RedSnake351]

Jeff, I have hotel reservations till Monday and had planned to return then. Because of the workday (Monday) I was really thinking of NOT coming through the Chicago route, but up Rt 57.
Anyone else coming back Monday?
Ralph

[CHRIS DAMSCH]

I'm leaving Sunday Night or Monday Early Morning. I'll decide on Sunday Night.

That's my plan.

[OhBuoy]

Is anyone leaving on Friday afternoon or evening by chance? I know we have had a few late travelers in the past. I am trying to work out work scheduling and other details. Chances of me making it to London this year are diminishing, but I am still holding out that I might be able to leave Friday night, be there for the festivities on Saturday and depending upon what is up for me on Sunday, leave either Saturday night or Sunday sometime. I really hate to miss out on the fun.

Tom