Midway Airport in Chicago to points south

[tmoore952]

Searched Midway and did not see anything addressing this question, so here goes.

Traveling this weekend from Midway Airport in Chicago to Kankakee. IL.

Trying to figure out how to get from Midway Airport to I-57 S. I know I-294 intersects with I-57, and so this is really a question about how best to get to I-294.

Google maps suggests two ways --  driving south from Midway Airport on Cicero Ave. and then going west on 95th Street to I-294 south (and to I-57), or Cicero Ave. south to interchange with I-294 south at 127th Street.

I was wondering if it was possible to go NORTH on Cicero to I-55 (that's only a couple blocks), then south on I-55, and then get to I-294 south by way of a short distance south on US 45 (since there is apparently no direct movement from I-55 S to I-294 S), to get to I-294.

Google maps doesn't really have an option for "minimize city streets", and maybe the route I am thinking of is too tricky to pull off. I'm not getting very good answers one way or another on this when I query the Internet.

So I have two questions:
(1) Is the I-55 option I mention feasible?
(2) Regardless of answer to question (1), what is drive along Cicero Ave. like?

[NWI_Irish96]

Searched Midway and did not see anything addressing this question, so here goes.

Traveling this weekend from Midway Airport in Chicago to Kankakee. IL.

Trying to figure out how to get from Midway Airport to I-57 S. I know I-294 intersects with I-57, and so this is really a question about how best to get to I-294.

Google maps suggests two ways --  driving south from Midway Airport on Cicero Ave. and then going west on 95th Street to I-294 south (and to I-57), or Cicero Ave. south to interchange with I-294 south at 127th Street.

I was wondering if it was possible to go NORTH on Cicero to I-55 (that's only a couple blocks), then south on I-55, and then get to I-294 south by way of a short distance south on US 45 (since there is apparently no direct movement from I-55 S to I-294 S), to get to I-294.

Google maps doesn't really have an option for "minimize city streets", and maybe the route I am thinking of is too tricky to pull off. I'm not getting very good answers one way or another on this when I query the Internet.

So I have two questions:
(1) Is the I-55 option I mention feasible?
(2) Regardless of answer to question (1), what is drive along Cicero Ave. like?

There is normally a movement from I-55 S to I-294 S, but there is construction so it may be temporarily closed.

It's really going to depend on the time of day, but Cicero to I-294 S is usually the fastest. There are a lot of lights but many of them are timed so you don't stop at too many, plus there are 3 lanes of traffic so it generally flows well.

Next best alternative is usually Cicero to State Rd to Ridgewood to 95th to I-294 S.

[tmoore952]

Follow-up:

Because of storms on the East Coast, I did not get to Midway until about 1:30 AM Central time (Saturday AM), about 4 hours later than the 9 PM Friday night scheduled arrival.

To go south at 2 AM Saturday, I took Cicero all the way south to I-57 at about 176th Street. It went fine, not many other cars on the road there. I was being extra careful to stay right at the speed limit of 35 MPH. I've had too many late night pullovers (all of them 30+ years ago).

Returning on Sunday about 4:30 PM, I did the freeway route I-57 N to I-294 N to I-55 N to Cicero Ave. south. It was slow in spots, but this was expected, and I arrived at the airport with 2 hours to spare.

[tmoore952]

And the last thing I will say about this ---

Thanks to the 4 hour delay in my flight, instead of getting to Kankakee at about 11 PM, I didn't get there until 3:30 AM. I am REALLY looking forward to a few years from now when I won't be working anymore and I am not being forced to travel late in the day at any time, and especially during the summer when storms can destroy any semblance of timeliness for airlines.

I am more than a little annoyed by this, because storms also caused a 4 hour delay for my flight to the UK on the evening of Aug 7.

[CtrlAltDel]

There is normally a movement from I-55 S to I-294 S, but there is construction so it may be temporarily closed.

I believe this is mistaken. I think the way is via US-12 / US-20 / US-45 for a small bit, although that route is almost limited access.

[paulthemapguy]

You're going to want to take a good look at this interchange right here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7455964,-87.8522762,16z

The way from I-55 south to I-294 south is via US 45/La Grange Road.  US 45 southbound has this secret ramp that lets traffic sneak onto I-294 south.  It's strange how access is only provided onto I-294 south here...No offramp access exists and no access to I-294 north exists.  But I think it's because this access to I-294 south is to compensate for the lack thereof up at I-55.

[tmoore952]

Wanted to point out that my original post was motivated in part by this whole question of how to get from I-55 S to I-294 S. I had seen this "secret ramp" from US 45 on GoogleMaps but wanted to get some confirmation that it existed (which I allude to in my post). I realized that if it didn't exist I'd have to drive on more city streets, this time down US 45 south to US 20 east (95th Street) to get to I-294 S.

So yes, I was surprised when the other poster said that a direct connection did exist (when both Googlemaps and Wikipedia I-55 page said that it doesn't). But not having actually been there and not knowing for certain, I didn't question what he said. I didn't try that route because of the uncertainty, and that decision was made much easier by the fact I was driving at 2 AM (I just took Cicero Ave south). It will be a long time before I need to worry about this again, as I usually fly to Indianapolis when I head out that way. Midway happened to be cheaper this time, and I had also never flown there before.

[kphoger]

Wanted to point out that my original post was motivated in part by this whole question of how to get from I-55 S to I-294 S. I had seen this "secret ramp" from US 45 on GoogleMaps but wanted to get some confirmation that it existed (which I allude to in my post). I realized that if it didn't exist I'd have to drive on more city streets, this time down US 45 south to US 20 east (95th Street) to get to I-294 S.

So yes, I was surprised when the other poster said that a direct connection did exist (when both Googlemaps and Wikipedia I-55 page said that it doesn't). But not having actually been there and not knowing for certain, I didn't question what he said. I didn't try that route because of the uncertainty, and that decision was made much easier by the fact I was driving at 2 AM (I just took Cicero Ave south). It will be a long time before I need to worry about this again, as I usually fly to Indianapolis when I head out that way. Midway happened to be cheaper this time, and I had also never flown there before.

Am I missing something?  Isn't this the "secret ramp"?  Google Maps routes me that way.

[tmoore952]

I cannot see your link at the present time, so I can't answer your question about the picture. I can try later when I am not at work.

I did say "direct connection" which to me means a ramp from I-55 S to I 294 S, without having to go on a third road (like US 45).
I do not see that on Googlemaps, and the Wikipedia pages for both "I-55 in Illinois" and "I-294 in Illinois" say that you can't go directly from I-55 S to I-294 S. Hence what I said (which is what you bolded).

I was not keen on taking an indirect connection between these two roads when I had no idea what lanes I had to be in, and it being a Friday night to boot.

[kphoger]

Ah, OK.  Yes, the link was to the indirect connection.