294 Weekend Traffic - Sunday (Gurnee, Bensenville: how much, house, construction)

[djw228]

On Sunday, I need to head up 294 starting from all the way down at the bottom where it hits 80 going up to the spur where it meets 94. I'll have to make the trip a few times next summer, too. Can anyone please tell me whether traffic on 294 is bad on Sundays during the summer? If so, are there times when it's better - maybe during the evening? Also, how is traffic heading south on 294 on Friday afternoon for the same route? Assuming it's bad on either (or both) days, can you guesstimate how much time it will take to make the trip? Thanks for any help!

[whakru]

I travel 294 every day for work for about the last 20 years. Right now I get on at I-88 and off at Dempster and the reverse for the way home. I can tell you that on a Friday afternoon you are going to sit from at least Dempster, if not Golf or Willow, all the way to the Bensenville Bridge (just past Irving Park Road). There is then a back up around I-88 into the Cermak toll and from what I hear on the news, further back ups around 47th St to I-55 or the mile long bridge. I will give you one int though....stay in the right most lane once you hit traffic. It moves the fastest and you can use the regular toll both at O'hare plaza and move through faster than sitting for the overhead drive through toll that was supposed to save us all from traffic congestion.

At a previous job I drove from about Great America (Gurnee) to I-55 and that would take about 1.5 hours. The longest it ever took me was 3 hours, but that was during the masive construction project years ago.

Sundays usually are no problem. You should be able to make that drive in 45 minutes (depending on how fast you drive).

[chet everett]

THE EVENINGS ARE THE WORST ON the southern end of northbound 294 SUNDAY!!!!!

If you gotta do this you absolutely MUST factor the large number of vacationers that LOVE NW Indiana / SW Michigan AS WELL AS THE high volume of TRUCKERS that stay hoe through "Sunday church time" and then "hit the road" to make it to points west / north...


Fridays you have a more "drawn out" set of hassles as some folks do "leave early" and others will clog the roads until 7PM or so -- I'd suggest waiting as long as possible on Friday, even driving after sunset, but DEFINATELY try to get things done EARLY on Sunday -- if you are driving north while folks are still at pancake house or churches you can do the trip is HALF the time that it will take when everybody decides they need to head back home / to next freight depot...

[pvande55]

I used to commute from North to South and going north in the evening was usually not a problem, EXCEPT on Fridays.