best interstates to take when driving from Champaign, IL to Cleveland, OH in 3 weeks?
 

What are the best interstates to take when driving
from Champaign, IL to Cleveland, OH in 3 weeks?

Thanks!

74-65-70-71

Others might argue go north and take 90. I've driven that in Feb/March where the snow by Lake Erie was so bad, I just had to pull over on the side of the road.

I assume 74-65-70-71 has no tolls? :)

Thanks!

It's possible to have that experience on 74, too, but with a couple bonus layers of ice.

It's possible for one route to be zonked while the other isn't so bad; follow the weather and decide based on that.

The southern route has other good points, though. The traffic isn't bad, for one thing. You avoid the stench around Gary. And yes, no tolls.

I'm unfamiliar with Gary, IL. What stench can I expect? Surely it can't
be as bad as Newark, NJ, right? (no offense to people who live or work
near EWR) :)

lol...it doesn't always smell.

My only rule with Gary is don't plan to get off the highway there. Plan your gas and bathroom breaks before of after.

can't smell as bad as Newark... here's the US government(EPA) report:

"“Spills, releases from sewer lines, leaking pipes from underground tanks, discharges to surface water and the disposal of contaminated waste in an on-site landfill have resulted in the contamination of the Exxon site with petroleum products. Two lagoon areas that had been used for the disposal of hazardous waste are also sources of soil and groundwater contamination at the site. The soil contamination caused by the sources listed above is consistent with the contamination sometimes found at other petroleum refineries, and includes metals and chemicals associated with petroleum such as the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) benzene and chlorobenzene. The groundwater that lies beneath the facility is also contaminated with benzene and chlorobenzene among other VOCs, and with arsenic.”"

Traffic on 80/90 thru southern metro Chicago and into Indiana usually means bumper to bumper semi trucks during the day. Evening and nightime hours usually aren't so bad, but when driving to Chicago I tend to avoid this route for that reason.

I just checked the routes on the google maps trip planner and it came up with three routes:

I57 N to I90 E (the Gary route using the Indiana toll road) and it is 446 miles

I74 E to US 24 N to I90 E and it is 437 miles

I 74 E to I70 E to to I71 N and it is 439 miles

Distance wise they are all basically the same. There is construction on the Gary route. I've driven that route a number of times and what others have said about traffic is absolutely true. There is tons of commercial traffic and depending on when you go, there can be a lot of casual traffic as well.

Personally, I would look at the various state department of transportation sites to get an idea on the current construction situation on all the prospective routes and then make the final decision on the weather. I would pay heed to JBord's statement about lake effect snow. But it is not only Lake Erie. The northern route (Gary) gets it as well from Lake Michigan as well. Many times we in the Chicago area will get a couple of inches of snow and Indiana will get a foot or more, specifically east of Gary through to the South Bend area.

I got bored and checked Google Maps with traffic turned on at 2AM and 3AM during the last two nights. Wow...what's the deal with traffic near Gary and all the way to just west of South Bend? They were mostly red, indicating slow traffic. At 2AM and 3AM? Also checked Waze app and it showed pretty much the same. Guess I'll be avoiding that area no matter what. :)

Thanks!

Probably snow the last couple of nights. As cheltzel said, there can be lots of lake effect snow there, and it's been snowing in Chicago. There's often year-round construction on parts of I-90 in NW Indiana (not sure right now). Finally, you have toll booths and casino traffic on the weekends.

Haven't been that way in probably a month, but my guess would be it's a little of all of the above. As I said earlier, I'd definitely suggest the southern route, your odds of having a smoother trip are much greater.

Agreed. I have friend who live in the NW Indiana area and have been driving that route off and on for over 25 years. The amount of big rig truck traffic on that route is heavy almost 24 hours a day.

Unless you see some overriding reason to avoid it, I would take the southern route. One reason to avoid it is black ice. I've hit that in central/southern Illinois and in the St Louis area and it can be really treacherous.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weathe...ngers/22052530

if I do go up north using I-57 to I-90 then to Cleveland, how much toll
will I be looking at?

thanks!

It depends on if you have i-pass/ez-pass or not. It's been a while since I've driven that far on 90 (I used to drive Chicago to Pittsburgh a lot). But I'd estimate somewhere in the range of $20-25 for tolls. Ohio alone is about $12 if you pay cash. Indiana is about $10 paid with cash.

I'm near Boston and my mini EZPass transponder is issued by Massachusetts DOT.

$25 in tolls isn't bad, if I have to go north to avoid snow/ice in the south.