Favorite/least favorite freeways in the Midwest - Great Lakes area

[Brandon]

Least Favorites:

• any/all IDiOT Tollways

Since there's no such thing as an IDOT tollway, you're chasing a phantom.  ISTHA is the agency.

Favorite:
I-355 - One of the more scenic controlled-access roads in northern Illinois, IMHO.  Follows the topography along the morainal systems of Will and DuPage Counties.
I-39/US-51 north of Stevens Point - Very scenic road through the local topography.

Least favorite:
Most IDOT Chicagoland expressways - tend to be underbuilt (when compared to the ISTHA tollways) and poorly engineered.  Rush hour can make them intolerable.

[ftballfan]

Favorites:
US-31 north of I-96 - 1950s/1960s goodness to the Muskegon River, then forests north of there
I-196 from Market Ave to Fuller Ave - Cheesy 1960s goodness west of 131, then brand-new freeway to Fuller
US-131 through Grand Rapids - The S-Curve and the I-196 interchange take the cake here
US-131 north of Cedar Springs - Forests and not much traffic
M-6 - Traffic moves along at a very good pace
Chicago Skyway (when traffic cooperates) - Nice views

Least favorites:
Ohio Turnpike - BORING!
I-94 anywhere between Chicago and Detroit - Trucks on trucks on trucks
US-31 through Grand Haven - Need I say Breezewood?
I-96 north of Grand Rapids - It drops to one lane westbound just west of US-131

[Jordanah1]

although its an expressway, WI 57 north of green bay has some boring spots, but has some views of the bay of green bay, hills, valleys, fields and forests. a little bit of everything.

[pianocello]

US-151 from Dubuque to Madison has awesome scenery, and any interstate into Chicago is cool.
My least favorites would be US-30 in Indiana (too many lights) and most of I-74 between the Quad Cities and Peoria.

[brianreynolds]

OK, I'm weighing in on this one really late.  So far, I agree and disagree with almost everyone.  The "freeway" specification is a bit limiting, but I'll try to play by the rules.

Favorites:  Yes, I-75 north of Standish, but select segments.
US-131 from Stanwood to almost the Manistee River, especially in full fall color.
US-31 from north Muskegon to Ludington.
I-80 through Pennsylvania and eastern New Jersey.
I-70 from Breezewood to Hagerstown.
I-57 from I-24 south to the River

There are stretches of nice road (Pennsylvania Turnpike) that I omit, because they are not "free"ways.

Least favorites:  I-94 across the north side of Jackson MI.  This is a 1940's era expressway poorly retrofitted into an Interstate.
The entire dual two-lane of I-94 around Ann Arbor.  It should have been upgraded in the early 1970's.  Time and development has boxed it in.  It will be ever thus.  There is no workable alternative.
Most of US-131 through Grand Rapids.  The "S" curve rebuild a few years ago improved things, but it could have been even better.
US-23 from Ann Arbor to Brighton.  This will be studied in depth once each decade for the next 80 years.  At the turn of the NEXT century, it will be about as it is now.
I-94 Ford Freeway through Detroit (fully depressed; probably a good thing. Stray projectiles pass harmlessly overhead).
M-39 Southfield Freeway through Detroit and Dearborn (semi-depressed, mostly depressing).
The Western end of NY-17.  The pavement quality is awful.  Same with I-55 in Arkansas.  Same with I-69 across the north side of Lansing.

--
Brian Reynolds
Hastings Michigan

[The High Plains Traveler]

I-90 from U.S. 63 near Rochester MN east to the Wisconsin border. If you're traveling eastbound, you've had over 400 miles of plains transitioning into barely rolling farmland. Suddenly you enter the "driftless" area in SE Minnesota where the glaciers bypassed and thus didn't dump hundreds of feet of sand and clay. There are real roadcuts through rock. As you approach Dresbach, you suddenly drop down into the Mississippi River valley. 

[ftballfan]

OK, I'm weighing in on this one really late.  So far, I agree and disagree with almost everyone.  The "freeway" specification is a bit limiting, but I'll try to play by the rules.

Favorites:  Yes, I-75 north of Standish, but select segments.
US-131 from Stanwood to almost the Manistee River, especially in full fall color.
US-31 from north Muskegon to Ludington.
I-80 through Pennsylvania and eastern New Jersey.
I-70 from Breezewood to Hagerstown.
I-57 from I-24 south to the River

There are stretches of nice road (Pennsylvania Turnpike) that I omit, because they are not "free"ways.

Least favorites:  I-94 across the north side of Jackson MI.  This is a 1940's era expressway poorly retrofitted into an Interstate.
The entire dual two-lane of I-94 around Ann Arbor.  It should have been upgraded in the early 1970's.  Time and development has boxed it in.  It will be ever thus.  There is no workable alternative.
Most of US-131 through Grand Rapids.  The "S" curve rebuild a few years ago improved things, but it could have been even better.
US-23 from Ann Arbor to Brighton.  This will be studied in depth once each decade for the next 80 years.  At the turn of the NEXT century, it will be about as it is now.
I-94 Ford Freeway through Detroit (fully depressed; probably a good thing. Stray projectiles pass harmlessly overhead).
M-39 Southfield Freeway through Detroit and Dearborn (semi-depressed, mostly depressing).
The Western end of NY-17.  The pavement quality is awful.  Same with I-55 in Arkansas.  Same with I-69 across the north side of Lansing.

--
Brian Reynolds
Hastings Michigan

This goes into Fictional Highways, but if Indiana (or most other states for that matter) had control of Michigan's roads, I-94 would be three lanes in all of Michigan and would have been 20 years ago, and US-23 would be three lanes south of Brighton.