Towing thru Chicago

[tanker]

We are headed west for "The Diesel Page" Rendezvous in Salt Lake City. We will be stopping off in Minneapolis Mn. to visit relatives etc. and will need to go thru or around Chicago IL. Been there and done it before, both with a semi and with RV in tow. It's never been a lot of fun :rolleyes: , but a neccessary evil. Anyone who travels around the "Windy City" have any suggestions? We should be in the Chicago area Thursday evening Sept. 1st. We have done the I-80 West/I-294 Tri-state toll-way, I-90 Northwest toll-way up into Wisconsin. Have looked at staying on I-80 West to I-39 North, but it is a long way around. Any suggestions would be great. ;)

[Inspector]

Tom:
I would suggest that you stay south of the windy city. Run through Peori Ill on 74 north to the Quad cities. Moline,Rock Island, Davenport. Pick up 80 into Iowa to just the other side of Iowa City. North on 380 to Waterloo then to 218.
Follow 218 into Minnesota and pick up 35 at Owatonna on into Minneapolis. I have done that trip many times when my folks lived in Burlington Iowa and we were in St. Paul.
Denny :D

[rjschoolcraft]

I travel through and around Chicago frequently. My wife's folks live in Whitewater, WI. If you want to go to MN, the best route is the 294 tollway to I90 tollway. It isn't good and can be a mess with traffic. Particularly the I80/I94 stretch on the south side. Just be prepared to stop and be patient. If you can arrange to travel through there in the wee hours of the morning (1 - 3 am) the traffic isn't usually too bad (it's still heavy, even then). As for traveling out to I39... The worst traffic is in that stretch of I80/I94 as you leave Indiana and enter Illinois. Taking I80 on out to I39 won't save anything and will add considerable mileage to the trip.

The tolls have doubled for those using the conventional cash at the booth payment method. If you have I-Pass (not feasible for you or me), the old, lower rates apply. A passenger car is now 80 cents per booth with multiple axles adding more. Check out the Illinois Tollway webpage (http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=53,178893,53_179146&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL) for more information on the tolls.

Dropping south to Indianapolis is probably not a good idea for the miles it will add.

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

I know I'm too late, but...

I've decided to NEVER go around Chicago, except between 2:00 & 4:00 AM. This actually works out pretty good for me - when I'm headed east, I leave home (Twin Cities, MN) at 7 or 8 PM. When I've done this, it's cruise control all the way.

Blessings!