Commute from Downtown to Buffalo Grove (Chicago, Waukegan: apartment, school, live in)

[DPaq]

I live in downtown (New East Side) and I am considering a job in Buffalo Grove. How long would the commute be by car? Google maps says it is a 33 mile drive and would take about 45 minutes. I assume this is without traffic and this doesn't seem that bad, but would I encounter a lot of traffic, or would the traffic be in the reverse direction. Any info is highly appreciated.

[JStealth]

DPaq, I drive in what would be the opposite way of your commute (94 into downtown from Skokie) and l see some traffic from about Addison through Tower Road (this at 7AM or so). After Tower, it's pretty open. However, your commute back into downtown will be a mess. When I was in grad school, I would regularly leave at 4PM to make it to class by 6PM. I would generally get downtown at about 5:45PM. Not sure what the deal is what the afternoon commute from the burbs into the city, but it's certainly not fun.

[chet everett]

The traffic between Buffalo Grove and Chicago's Loop / Millenium Park /Illinois Center area ("new East Side" HA!!!) will be quite severe. Choke points getting from your apartment to the Ohio feeder ramp, then on the Kennedy itself, then on the Edens, then at the Deerfield Rd or Half Day... Figure about 55 minutes if you can get out ahead of the traffic in the AM (which builds rapidly after 7AM) and about 90 minutes for the ride as evenings are generally heavier (largely due to folks adding stops for shopping and such, along with delivery trucks mixed in with commuters).

If there is a "weather event" travel times (as happened this past Thursday) can double...

[pvande55]

Traffic is pretty bad the way you'd be going, no advantage to a "reverse commute," in fact the express lanes go the opposite direction. There is Metra train service to BG, about 50 minutes, but the first train arrives BG station at 8:04.

[reppin_the_847]

I know a guy that commutes from the South Loop to the southwestern edge of Waukegan (Rte 43 & MLK) close to Abbott Labs. If he can manage that commute, I'm guessing your commute to BG is do-able (although a pain in the butt).

[meatpuff]

^^^^^^^^

Holy smokes. Leaving work on Fridays, I'm sure that guy could drive to downtown Milwaukee faster than to his place in South Loop, if he works 9-5. Maybe some other days of the week, too.

[reppin_the_847]

Yeah this guy usually tries to leave early or late on Fridays (yeah I know late sounds kinda nutty lol) to make up for the worse inbound traffic on a typical Friday evening. Here's what you gotta remember though. The guy basically gets to the Lake-Cook Road exit pretty quickly from Waukegan but the traffic is real bad the rest of the way into the city. So it would be like a Highland Park / Deerfield to Chicago commute + 15 highway minutes or a Lake Forest to Chicago commute + 10 highway minutes just to provide some perspective for the folks that think Waukegan is in a different universe distance-wise from Chicago lol.

Originally Posted by meatpuff

^^^^^^^^

Holy smokes. Leaving work on Fridays, I'm sure that guy could drive to downtown Milwaukee faster than to his place in South Loop, if he works 9-5. Maybe some other days of the week, too.

[robyn5150]

It will probably be a good 45 minutes to an hour...BG is very nice..