For those who didn't hear, I-65 Northbound was shutdown near Rensselaer (between Lafayette and Gary) today due to a semi wreck and had traffic backed up a long way and for hours. My dad and I were travelling from Cincinnati to Chicago, so after stopping for lunch in Lafayette we travelled to US 52 then up to US 41. The road conditions were alternating between right lane covered-left lane cleared, left lane covered-right lane cleared, and both lanes cleared but don't plan on changing lanes because the middle was covered in snow. After getting far enough north be totally ahead of the traffic on I-65 we travelled across IN 2 for about 8-10 miles through the town of Lowell to I-65. Somewhat surprisingly the road conditions were better on IN 2 than on the US Highways with the exception of the last mile or so before I-65.
Now my question. After informing my brother in Chicago of our progress upon returning to I-65 he had expected us to continue on US 41 all the way to I-80. My thought was that that would involve a lot of traffic lights travelling through places like Schererville going past miles of Walmarts and shopping centers. So was it better to have gone across to I-65 rather than continuing along US 41 to I-80?
It certainly would have been shorter staying on US 41...you added over 15 miles cutting back over to I-65. And Google suggests that, even with the signals along 41, you would have been about 5-6 minutes faster staying on 41.
Google currently shows 39 minutes for both routes, with a bit of slow traffic on US 41 increasing the time on that route.
In this particular case, going back to I-65 had the added benefit of less traffic than usual because of the accident, while US 41 could have been busier than usual because of other traffic doing the same thing.
So I'd say it's a toss-up under normal circumstances but would actually slightly favor returning to I-65 in this particular case, as long as you don't care about the extra mileage.
When traveling north on US 41...Would going west on IN 2 (rather than east thru Lowell) to IL 17 to IL 1/394 be a better option?
I have taken US-41 all the way to I-80 on one occasion, and the stop lights as you drew nearer and nearer took forever to get through. It was quite a frustrating experience. And so, even if it was faster to stay on, I wouldn't fault you for not doing so.
Quote from: Skye on February 18, 2022, 08:30:42 PM
For those who didn't hear, I-65 Northbound was shutdown near Rensselaer (between Lafayette and Gary) today due to a semi wreck and had traffic backed up a long way and for hours. My dad and I were travelling from Cincinnati to Chicago, so after stopping for lunch in Lafayette we travelled to US 52 then up to US 41. The road conditions were alternating between right lane covered-left lane cleared, left lane covered-right lane cleared, and both lanes cleared but don't plan on changing lanes because the middle was covered in snow. After getting far enough north be totally ahead of the traffic on I-65 we travelled across IN 2 for about 8-10 miles through the town of Lowell to I-65. Somewhat surprisingly the road conditions were better on IN 2 than on the US Highways with the exception of the last mile or so before I-65.
Now my question. After informing my brother in Chicago of our progress upon returning to I-65 he had expected us to continue on US 41 all the way to I-80. My thought was that that would involve a lot of traffic lights travelling through places like Schererville going past miles of Walmarts and shopping centers. So was it better to have gone across to I-65 rather than continuing along US 41 to I-80?
Sorry I missed this thread earlier, but in case you go this way again:
Yes, there are a lot of stoplights on US 41 as you get farther and farther north. My preferred route for getting into the city from US 41 in Lake County is to take 109th Ave to Calumet Ave to 101st Ave into Illinois, where 101st Ave becomes Exchange St. and gets you to IL 394. IL 394 gets you up to I-94/Bishop Ford Fwy to get you downtown, or to I-294/Tri-State Tollway to get you to the west/northwest suburbs.