Hey, Illinois, thanks for telling us our exit is closed

[Skye]

A few weeks ago I took a trip with my mom from Cincinnati to Chicago. This was the fourth time in less than a year that I've made this trip with one parent or another and we have another trip scheduled for June. At my request, we decided to change things up a bit and instead of taking I-65 and I-80 between Indianapolis and Chicago we took I-74 and I-57. The drive featured far fewer big rigs on the road than I-65. We ran into a problem on the way back. The exit from I-57 South to I-74 East in Champaign was closed for construction. No advanced warning was given for this. The suggested detour was to exit I-72 East (the next exit south on I-57) which quickly ends in a one way street, then make a couple of left turns back to I-72 then back to I-57 North to I-74 East. But, since we had already been planning to stop at the first exit on I-74 for gas and food, we drove the city streets of Champaign for approximately 2-3 miles to our planned stop.

[kphoger]

Why didn't you just do this:

https://goo.gl/maps/gy8qQZaegk3jL8bu6

[NWI_Irish96]

I drove I-57 south a couple weeks ago and even though I didn't need to exit onto I-74, I did observe that there seemed to be very little notice that the exit to EB I-74 was closed.

Contrast that with Indiana, where you get multiple notices spanning about 20 miles that the I-65/70 north split in downtown Indy is closed.

[Crash_It]

A few weeks ago I took a trip with my mom from Cincinnati to Chicago. This was the fourth time in less than a year that I've made this trip with one parent or another and we have another trip scheduled for June. At my request, we decided to change things up a bit and instead of taking I-65 and I-80 between Indianapolis and Chicago we took I-74 and I-57. The drive featured far fewer big rigs on the road than I-65. We ran into a problem on the way back. The exit from I-57 South to I-74 East in Champaign was closed for construction. No advanced warning was given for this. The suggested detour was to exit I-72 East (the next exit south on I-57) which quickly ends in a one way street, then make a couple of left turns back to I-72 then back to I-57 North to I-74 East. But, since we had already been planning to stop at the first exit on I-74 for gas and food, we drove the city streets of Champaign for approximately 2-3 miles to our planned stop.

They wanted you to experience more of what IL had to offer rather than just pass through

[paulthemapguy]

The exit to Olympian Dr. is just another exit to Prospect Avenue, where all the shopping and hotels are, anyway.  So that would have worked.  That's weak that the ramp closure wasn't sufficiently signed.

[jeffandnicole]

A few weeks ago I took a trip with my mom from Cincinnati to Chicago. This was the fourth time in less than a year that I've made this trip with one parent or another and we have another trip scheduled for June. At my request, we decided to change things up a bit and instead of taking I-65 and I-80 between Indianapolis and Chicago we took I-74 and I-57. The drive featured far fewer big rigs on the road than I-65. We ran into a problem on the way back. The exit from I-57 South to I-74 East in Champaign was closed for construction. No advanced warning was given for this. The suggested detour was to exit I-72 East (the next exit south on I-57) which quickly ends in a one way street, then make a couple of left turns back to I-72 then back to I-57 North to I-74 East. But, since we had already been planning to stop at the first exit on I-74 for gas and food, we drove the city streets of Champaign for approximately 2-3 miles to our planned stop.

This is the proper way to sign a detour. While aggrevating if you know of other options, too many of your fellow travelers will miss the advanced signs, then will be confused when the exit is closed. DOTs could sign 2 detours, but that's just an additonal expense. Some may use an electronic sign beforehand to alert motorists to the upcoming closure and give those who know other ways around the option to do it on their own, but that depends on sign availability.

So, one detour, after the closed exit, is the preferred method to detour traffic back to the area.