Hello all. I'm in the National Capital Chapter area and was wondering if anyone wanted to hook up and drive to wisconsin. I live in VA and my buddy and I will be driving. Anyone in the area or on the way that wants to hook up let me know! I think it would be great if we could get ten or more cars together and all make the trip. We're not sure on the dates we're leaving yet so let us know and we can all coordinate. See you all there!
east coast convoy Hi, I read your post and I am interested in joining in on a convoy to Oktoberfest. Please keep me posted. Last year I traveled to Atlanta on my own. Although it was a nice peaceful drive, it could have been more fun.
Sounds like a plan to me I'd like to tag along. We are planning on driving my newly aquired 1990, E-30 325is. It sounds like lots of fun to me! Please keep me in the loop for planning. I hope to make a few NCC events this year, since both Renee and I are new to the club. Zdaneman 9Wes)
convoy Congrats on your new purchase. I live in NY and I have not mapped out my route yet. I will post it when I know. let me know if anyone on this thread is leaving from the NY, NJ area.
Don't bother trying to drive through downtown Chicago unless you're rolling through after Midnight-1:00am local time, and even with that, it might not be worth it due either to road construction & associated congestion, or roads in horrendous shape nobody would want to drive on. Better to take 294 toll-road around unless that's all mucked up with construction too, although that's about the only viable direct option. Check EZ-pass/I-pass cross-compatibility, you may be able to use your EZ-pass for the toll-sections in Illinois, don't know about Indiana. Maybe it's better in recent years, but don't be surprised to find I-80/94 at a dead crawl from I-65 to where I-94 splits off or beyond, I think some 20-30 miles, unless you're rolling through in the middle of the night. Hopefully someone local will have some additional insight... anyone? I think you can google up general construction zone info or find it on the I-Pass site; AAA also I think maintains a database.
Haven't been through Chicago lately, Marshall? My perspective is as a transplanted Ohioan who's driven through Chicago countless times over the past 19 years since moving to Wisconsin. I have only used I-294 a handful of times. Even when they were rebuilding the Whole Damn Thing in the mid-'90s, I drove I-94 right through the middle of town. All in all, it's in pretty good shape right now if you're using I-90/I-94. The Skyway is kind of expensive but maybe worth it if I-94 looks particularly busy when you get there. Obviously, you want to avoid the city during rush hours - and the adjustable toll rates reflect that. You can go through before 6:30 AM relatively easily most days. Mid-day isn't awfully bad, IME, but if you're looking at hitting town around 4:30, it's better to stop and have a leisurely early dinner and try after 7:00 PM. Once you're on the north side, things should flow smoothly but if they don't, US 41 is always just a couple miles east. It is the old Chicago-Milwaukee 'main road', so don't hesitate to get out of standing traffic to use it instead. You'll hit I-94 again at the Wisconsin state line anyway. EZ-Pass is compatible with Illinois' IPass and Indiana's (Whatever-clever-name-for-it-they-cooked-up)-Pass. Basically, if it works in the East, it'll work in the Midwest. I used my IPass all the way to Watkins Glen in '08. There are compatibility maps on most toll roads' websites. Wisconsin has no toll roads. Checking online is probably the best idea for everything here. The Illinois toll system will have updates on construction dates, times, and conditions and they have realtime view cameras placed along the road as well. If you're traveling with a copilot and a laptop, you might make use of this on the fly. All alone, I'd hit a Wi-fi spot to take a quick look just before going into the city. Take a moment to check the toll rate structure, too. A 5-minute difference in time can inflate or reduce your tolls by a lot. If you use Google Maps or something similar on a mobile device, there's a teensy traffic conditions icon I can't make out because I'm colorblind - but maybe you're not.
Nope, last time was about two years ago; somewhere in there or the previous year I tried going through town southbound and got held up for an hour or so in backed-up, down-to-one-lane construction zones. I gave up on trying to take I-80/94 westbound from I-65 some years ago as several years in a row I got caught in some ridiculous 20-30 mile backups, whatever they were, due to traffic congestion, and that section of highway inbound to Chicago never seemed to be uncongested and moving unless it was really late. If things have improved, I give a cheer. I recall getting through town was ok after 9 or 10 at night, generally, IF 94 for that split-second of time I happened to be running through was construction-zone free. In the meantime, if northbound, I've opted to duck off I-65 south of Merrillville and cut over back roads through Crown Point, preferring to move along at a relatively unmolested 30-35 mph than risk crawling interminably @ 5mph, bumper-to-bumper, and surrounded on all sides by an endless sea of cars and semis across 4 or 5 lanes. If I could have any confidence that stretch of road actually moved I'd prefer to make better time on the highway, but a pokey detour at least is somewhat better than being stranded in barely moving traffic with no hope in sight. Chicago's quite congested regardless, but if I-94's not a hopeless disaster (right now) as far as road condition or construction zones go, then yes, that's certainly the most direct and quickest. My outlook is a bit cynical, having gotten stuck in backups more often than not even at times when you wouldn't expect to, over years of runs through and around Chicago - but, not being a local, I'm not running through often enough by any means for up-to-the minute insight. Hey, if they've actually completed some of the roadwork there, then maybe some of those tax dollars actually are showing a result!
From Cincy through Chicago Been to Elkhart Lake several times, towing each time. Straight through Chicago is the same time as going around. Key is just to have an empty bladder, full tank of fuel, and good attitude thankful you don't have to do it daily. I've done it in the rain with construction, still no big deal if you just keep cool. I'm looking to caravan, starting on Sunday. The average time from Cincinnati is around 11 hours. More restful in my dotage to split the drive. Get to north of Chicago Sunday night, easy 4 hour finish Monday. Marshall, anyone? -Len
We used to take 270-70-68-79-80 all the time to Oshkosh for the Fly-In. We'd spend the night in Cicero and continue driving the next day.
You still gotta go somewhere from I-80. Unless you were going all the way out by Rockford and coming back up I-39/I-43 through Madison, you still needed to use US41, I-294, or I-94 to come north. Len is right, of course. I've driven, towed, and ridden back & forth through Chicago dozens of times in all kinds of weather & traffic. From the east or southeast, any route to the west and south that gets you well away from the heavy traffic adds at least a half day to your trip because you have to come back east to Elkhart Lake. At its very worst, Chicago can only add three hours. Ask me how I know ... For those coming from the Middle Atlantic and wanting to save a bit on tolls, I will recommend US 30 across Ohio and Indiana. It is Interstate-grade through almost all of Ohio and through most of Indiana, it is a 60-mph divided highway with little traffic. It has a handful of relatively isolated traffic lights around Fort Wayne & through the middle of Warsaw, but nothing of any real consequence. I use US 421 or IN 49 up to I-94 at the west end.
Coming From Charlotte, NC 08/21/10 I'll be driving up Saturday and probably stopping to overnight near Evansville, Indiana if anyone wants to join up at any point. Craig Harmon 89 "Listerine" M3 (196k miles and tempting fate with every turn of the key) Charlotte, NC 704.763.2240
via mapquest - Charlotte to Milwaukee via Louisville - 864 miles, vs. Charlotte to Milwaukee via Evansville - 948 miles ...??
I know, but the whole point is to enjoy the drive in the M3, right? Really though, I'll be staying with a friend in Evansville for the night to help break up the trip - haven't seen him in a while.
