Help from Chicagoans

Bueller......... Buelller......... Bueller.........

I think you'd be ok on I-294, jp. The southbound backups occur in the afternoon. It might be a little slow around the O'hare toll plaza, but nothing horrid.

The alternative would be I-355, but there's no good way for you to get to it. You'd have to exit I-94 at Lake Cook Road and go west about 10 miles through lots of traffic and lights to pick it up.

If you need to be there by 8:00, you'll miss most of the business commute, which is much of what ties up I-294 between 8:30 and 9:00. Plan an extra 20-30 minutes for your trip and you'll be fine.

Thanks J_B

You don't think I'd get tied up on 94 trying to get to 294?

I was thinking about lakecook/355 route, too. I used that once during the afternoon and it wasn't to bad. I'm not sure about morning though.

No, not if you avoid the Abbott Park rush at 8:00. You'll be well south of there by 7:30 so you should be fine. There will be plenty of traffic, but it usually runs pretty smoothly.

If it's normally 90 mins then you should be fine with 2 hours. Maybe an extra 15 minutes if you absolutely have to be there by 8:00am.

There are a number of places you can bail from I-294 once you get south of Lake Cook road. If it starts to back up (Allstate might be another slow spot, but again not until after 8:00) you can exit at Dundee, or Willow (Allstate traffic exits here) and go west to pick up 53/I-355.

You can get regular traffic updates on WBBM radio (AM 780) or any of the Chicago AM stations.

Well that doesn't sound so bad. I think I'll give it a dry run and see how it goes. Thanks again, J_B!