Who has traveled on I-94?

[Max Rockatansky]

Somehow, I've never been on the Edens (I-94 between Northbrook, IL and Chicago's north side).  As for the rest:

Milwaukee, WI; being of the top level of an interchange to stay on I-94 really made vertigo kick in
south of Milwaukee, WI; was forced off the highway due to a road closure the first time, smooth trip the second
Lake County, IL; traffic wasn't too heavy, but the speeding was absolutely ridiculous
Chicago (Kennedy); an overloaded road with too many exits and entrances
Chicago (Ryan); absolute misery every time
Chicago (Ford); still plenty of pain here, especially if I try to go from Stony Island to I-57, but mostly just lots of traffic
IL/IN border area; like driving in a video game.  Trucks in lanes they're not allowed in, people weaving in and out, random backups...
Southeast suburbs (IN); stay in the left lane anywhere west of I-65 if you hope to actually get anywhere
Rest of IN; smooth ride
New Buffalo, MI; last time by, this really needed a repaving

Unfortunately, I-94 is a terrible experience between the north side of Chicago and Lake Station, IN.  The rest has its flaws, but it isn't nearly as bad.

I think the worst stretch of I-94 is between Benton Harbor and Ann Arbor, two lanes in each direction of nothing but truck traffic on a pothole ridden highway. But the stretch you mentioned is a pretty bad experience too. I honestly think though that I-94 needs to be rebuilt from New Buffalo to Port Huron.

Four lanes as it might be the roadway is nowhere near as bad as I remember it (having recently drove it) aside from the disaster that is the stretch in Jackson.

I've driven back and forth to Chicago so much I've lost count. It's pretty bad in the Kalamazoo area, the closer you get to Detroit the worse it gets. I-94 is so bad that I've started to go out to US-131 and drop down to I-196 to avoid most of it. I-196 is four lanes too but it doesn't have as much traffic as I-94 does.

I had the benefit of using I-69 to avoid much of it when I lived in Lansing heading towards Chicago.  No doubt the traffic count warrants six lanes but what surprised me is the road condition aside from Jackson was no where near as bad as I remember it.  Granted it has been two decades since I regularly drove that stretch but the Jackson portion seemed to be what used to be much more the norm.

Lansing is my quarter way mark to Chicago with Kalamazoo being the halfway mark so I've used I-69 between Lansing and Marshall lots of times that's how I get to I-94 going out that direction usually. It was always fine until I got to I-94, the stretch of I-69 between Lansing and Marshall but once you get on I-94 it's nothing but major truck traffic and I remember potholes being in the road in areas.

The way I look at it is like this, I-94 between Chicago and Detroit is a major truck route with a lot more traffic going in between both cities. I suppose you could take US-12 which of course would take a lot more time or drop down to I-80/90 which is a lot nicer than I-94.

From Detroit especially US 12 is a very viable if not somewhat scenic alternate to I-94.  Originally I lived out by Willow Run Airport which made US 12 an easy exit out of he I-94 corridor until the New Buffalo area close to the Indiana State Line. Really the only times it was probably worth avoiding in favor of I-94 was when Michigan International Speedway was holding an event, but that could mostly be avoided by passing the track via US 127 in Jackson. 

[Flint1979]

From Detroit especially US 12 is a very viable if not somewhat scenic alternate to I-94.  Originally I lived out by Willow Run Airport which made US 12 an easy exit out of he I-94 corridor until the New Buffalo area close to the Indiana State Line. Really the only times it was probably worth avoiding in favor of I-94 was when Michigan International Speedway was holding an event, but that could mostly be avoided by passing the track via US 127 in Jackson.
[/quote]

I wouldn't disagree with that at all. US-12 is very scenic especially in the Irish Hills area. Going back in history most of US-12 in Michigan at one time was US-112 and US-12 followed most of what I-94 is today. It can be a good alternate route if you get off at exit 181 and go west from there but the only thing is that US-12 doesn't have any bypass routes for the small towns it goes through like Saline and Jonesville. And you're right about the events at MIS if there is an event there the best thing would be to take I-94 to US-127 and bypass the area like you said. Honestly I know this is a bit off topic but since we're in the same area I have always found US-223 to be pretty useless at least for me.

[Max Rockatansky]

From Detroit especially US 12 is a very viable if not somewhat scenic alternate to I-94.  Originally I lived out by Willow Run Airport which made US 12 an easy exit out of he I-94 corridor until the New Buffalo area close to the Indiana State Line. Really the only times it was probably worth avoiding in favor of I-94 was when Michigan International Speedway was holding an event, but that could mostly be avoided by passing the track via US 127 in Jackson.

I wouldn't disagree with that at all. US-12 is very scenic especially in the Irish Hills area. Going back in history most of US-12 in Michigan at one time was US-112 and US-12 followed most of what I-94 is today. It can be a good alternate route if you get off at exit 181 and go west from there but the only thing is that US-12 doesn't have any bypass routes for the small towns it goes through like Saline and Jonesville. And you're right about the events at MIS if there is an event there the best thing would be to take I-94 to US-127 and bypass the area like you said. Honestly I know this is a bit off topic but since we're in the same area I have always found US-223 to be pretty useless at least for me.
[/quote]

The only real occasion I ever had to use US 223 was when I was purposefully taking photographs of it's weird terminus in Ohio.  I didn't even stay on US 223 but used US 23 from there to reach Brighton for the night.  IMO US 223 should have gotten the axe as a US Highway a long time ago. 

What's really interesting about the original US 12 isn't just I-94 but the fact that the M-14 corridor is essentially its successor east of Ann Arbor.  When US 27 was being decommissioned in Michigan I was hoping the same logic that ran with routing US 12 over US 112 would apply but sadly it did not and now US 127 exists north of Lansing. 

[Flint1979]

From Detroit especially US 12 is a very viable if not somewhat scenic alternate to I-94.  Originally I lived out by Willow Run Airport which made US 12 an easy exit out of he I-94 corridor until the New Buffalo area close to the Indiana State Line. Really the only times it was probably worth avoiding in favor of I-94 was when Michigan International Speedway was holding an event, but that could mostly be avoided by passing the track via US 127 in Jackson.

I wouldn't disagree with that at all. US-12 is very scenic especially in the Irish Hills area. Going back in history most of US-12 in Michigan at one time was US-112 and US-12 followed most of what I-94 is today. It can be a good alternate route if you get off at exit 181 and go west from there but the only thing is that US-12 doesn't have any bypass routes for the small towns it goes through like Saline and Jonesville. And you're right about the events at MIS if there is an event there the best thing would be to take I-94 to US-127 and bypass the area like you said. Honestly I know this is a bit off topic but since we're in the same area I have always found US-223 to be pretty useless at least for me.

The only real occasion I ever had to use US 223 was when I was purposefully taking photographs of it's weird terminus in Ohio.  I didn't even stay on US 223 but used US 23 from there to reach Brighton for the night.  IMO US 223 should have gotten the axe as a US Highway a long time ago. 

What's really interesting about the original US 12 isn't just I-94 but the fact that the M-14 corridor is essentially its successor east of Ann Arbor.  When US 27 was being decommissioned in Michigan I was hoping the same logic that ran with routing US 12 over US 112 would apply but sadly it did not and now US 127 exists north of Lansing.
[/quote]
I agree it should be a state highway at the very most. US-223 was actually originally US-127 which at that time started in Lansing and ended in Toledo and then US-127 was rerouted to a state highway (the current US-127 south of the US-223 split) to the state line and then to Cincinnati. It makes perfect sense too because US-127's roadway actually continues as US-223's roadway, US-127 traffic having to stay to the right to stay on that highway. US-223 was also realigned to run on M-151's former routing in the 1970's and US-223 use to use Memorial Highway and current OH-51 to get to downtown Toledo. At that point is probably when it should have been scaled back to a state highway, the concurrency with US-23 is pointless but I guess I can say it does at least end at US highways on both ends.

And yep US-12 use to run on Plymouth Road in Detroit instead of Michigan Avenue and use to end at US-16 at the corner of Plymouth and Grand River and then later ran concurrently with US-16 into downtown. That entire route of course was rerouted onto Old US-112 and the Old US-12 east of Ann Arbor of course became M-14 which explains why M-14 was on Plymouth Road for a time until being scaled back to end at the I-275/96 interchange. I'm actually surprised I know all this because I wasn't even born until 1979 but I've done plenty of studying on Michigan highways that I know a lot of things before I was born.

I'm not sure if I could find any of these signs anymore but the State Highway Department (before MDOT) went and just simply blocked out the first 1 on the US-112 signs to make it US-12 leaving only an off-center "12" on the highway shields between New Buffalo and Detroit.

Regarding US-27 and US-127 I was hoping that they would switch those two routes north of Cincinnati and have US-127 end in Fort Wayne and US-27 end at I-75 near Grayling but nope they had to go the other way. Just something about having a two digit highway rather than a three makes it feel different. US-27 certainly wouldn't of been out of the grid either.

[frankenroad]

Regarding US-27 and US-127 I was hoping that they would switch those two routes north of Cincinnati and have US-127 end in Fort Wayne and US-27 end at I-75 near Grayling but nope they had to go the other way. Just something about having a two digit highway rather than a three makes it feel different. US-27 certainly wouldn't of been out of the grid either.

I like this idea.

[NWI_Irish96]

Regarding US-27 and US-127 I was hoping that they would switch those two routes north of Cincinnati and have US-127 end in Fort Wayne and US-27 end at I-75 near Grayling but nope they had to go the other way. Just something about having a two digit highway rather than a three makes it feel different. US-27 certainly wouldn't of been out of the grid either.

I like this idea.

States are not going to spend millions of dollars re-signing US 27 and US 127 just because roadgeeks want US 27 to be the longer highway.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Regarding US-27 and US-127 I was hoping that they would switch those two routes north of Cincinnati and have US-127 end in Fort Wayne and US-27 end at I-75 near Grayling but nope they had to go the other way. Just something about having a two digit highway rather than a three makes it feel different. US-27 certainly wouldn't of been out of the grid either.

I like this idea.

States are not going to spend millions of dollars re-signing US 27 and US 127 just because roadgeeks want US 27 to be the longer highway.

And for some reason Michigan thought it was worth the effort to redesignate 27 as 127 20 years ago, so it's already over.

[Flint1979]

Regarding US-27 and US-127 I was hoping that they would switch those two routes north of Cincinnati and have US-127 end in Fort Wayne and US-27 end at I-75 near Grayling but nope they had to go the other way. Just something about having a two digit highway rather than a three makes it feel different. US-27 certainly wouldn't of been out of the grid either.

I like this idea.

States are not going to spend millions of dollars re-signing US 27 and US 127 just because roadgeeks want US 27 to be the longer highway.

What difference would that of made 20 years ago when they made the change? US-27 was already north of Lansing and needed all those signs changed. And it's not like states haven't and don't reroute highways.

[Flint1979]

Regarding US-27 and US-127 I was hoping that they would switch those two routes north of Cincinnati and have US-127 end in Fort Wayne and US-27 end at I-75 near Grayling but nope they had to go the other way. Just something about having a two digit highway rather than a three makes it feel different. US-27 certainly wouldn't of been out of the grid either.

I like this idea.

States are not going to spend millions of dollars re-signing US 27 and US 127 just because roadgeeks want US 27 to be the longer highway.

And for some reason Michigan thought it was worth the effort to redesignate 27 as 127 20 years ago, so it's already over.

And the reason Michigan did that was because US-27 already had an extremely long concurrency with I-69 and they thought it caused confusion which it actually didn't but oh well it's not anything I really care about. And it's not about wanting US-27 to be a longer highway it's that US-27 is the highway that ran up the center of Michigan, not US-127. US-27 ran up as far as Cheboygan, Mackinaw City and for a few years St. Ignace.

[Mrt90]

I can see (and hear) I-94 (which is the Tri-State Tollway here) from my office window.  I'm 6 miles from the Edens Spur.

I drive on I-94 between Route 60 in Illinois and Highway 165 in Wisconsin every day, approximately 20 miles each way.

When I was in college I used to take the bus quite often between Madison and Milwaukee, so I became quite familiar with some of the notable stops along I-94 such as Lake Mills, Johnson Creek, Summit, and Goerkes Corners.

[MantyMadTown]

I can see (and hear) I-94 (which is the Tri-State Tollway here) from my office window.  I'm 6 miles from the Edens Spur.

I drive on I-94 between Route 60 in Illinois and Highway 165 in Wisconsin every day, approximately 20 miles each way.

When I was in college I used to take the bus quite often between Madison and Milwaukee, so I became quite familiar with some of the notable stops along I-94 such as Lake Mills, Johnson Creek, Summit, and Goerkes Corners.

The bus service I use (Badger Bus) doesn't even stop at Summit. Maybe they do at Lake Mills, but I don't remember. I know sometimes they stop at Johnson Creek and Goerkes Corners, because my bus has stopped there before.

[Mrt90]

I can see (and hear) I-94 (which is the Tri-State Tollway here) from my office window.  I'm 6 miles from the Edens Spur.

I drive on I-94 between Route 60 in Illinois and Highway 165 in Wisconsin every day, approximately 20 miles each way.

When I was in college I used to take the bus quite often between Madison and Milwaukee, so I became quite familiar with some of the notable stops along I-94 such as Lake Mills, Johnson Creek, Summit, and Goerkes Corners.

The bus service I use (Badger Bus) doesn't even stop at Summit. Maybe they do at Lake Mills, but I don't remember. I know sometimes they stop at Johnson Creek and Goerkes Corners, because my bus has stopped there before.

I took Badger Bus, too, but that was about 30 years ago.  If I remember correctly, there was an "express" bus  from Madison a few times a day that only dropped people off at Goerkes Corners, State Fair Park and downtown, but if you missed the express they normally stopped to drop off and pick up people at all of the places I mentioned.  So on Friday afternoons when I went home for the weekend I had to get there early to get in line for the express bus.  The Badger Bus station in Madison used to be on the south corner of Bedford and West Wash, I think there's a CVS Pharmacy and apartments or condos there now.  The express bus from downtown Milwaukee back to Madison on Sunday evening didn't make any stops. 

[MantyMadTown]

I can see (and hear) I-94 (which is the Tri-State Tollway here) from my office window.  I'm 6 miles from the Edens Spur.

I drive on I-94 between Route 60 in Illinois and Highway 165 in Wisconsin every day, approximately 20 miles each way.

When I was in college I used to take the bus quite often between Madison and Milwaukee, so I became quite familiar with some of the notable stops along I-94 such as Lake Mills, Johnson Creek, Summit, and Goerkes Corners.

The bus service I use (Badger Bus) doesn't even stop at Summit. Maybe they do at Lake Mills, but I don't remember. I know sometimes they stop at Johnson Creek and Goerkes Corners, because my bus has stopped there before.

I took Badger Bus, too, but that was about 30 years ago.  If I remember correctly, there was an "express" bus  from Madison a few times a day that only dropped people off at Goerkes Corners, State Fair Park and downtown, but if you missed the express they normally stopped to drop off and pick up people at all of the places I mentioned.  So on Friday afternoons when I went home for the weekend I had to get there early to get in line for the express bus.  The Badger Bus station in Madison used to be on the south corner of Bedford and West Wash, I think there's a CVS Pharmacy and apartments or condos there now.  The express bus from downtown Milwaukee back to Madison on Sunday evening didn't make any stops.

There's also a U-Haul depot on that corner as well. All of the intercity buses stop in front of Memorial Union now (except Greyhound, which I think stops at the Dutch Mill park and ride).

[Henry]

Of course, I have driven on I-94 for its entire length, but not on the same trip.

[ctkatz]

billings to madison in one chunk, milwaukee to I 65 in indiana a long time ago back when 94 exits and entrance ramps south of milwaukee went straight to the frontage road.

planning to clinch all of 94 east in wisconsin this year.

[Buck87]

Fargo to Madison
Milwaukee to Michigan City
Ann Arbor to Detroit

I have since added Jackson, MI to Michigan City, IN with the exception of the parts around Kalamazoo and St. Joseph/Benton Harbor (where I got off and drove through the downtowns)

[Flint1979]

I was on I-94 for about 3 miles today from MM 175 to MM 172 in Ann Arbor, MI.

[Kulerage]

I was on a good chunk of it during my road trip to Duluth. My family didn't want to buy plane tickets lol.

[Max Rockatansky]

I always found it odd that I-69 multiplexed I-94 to a common terminus at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/05/blue-water-bridge-east-terminus-of.html?m=1

[Evan_Th]

I've been on it from Madison to Eau Claire, in Chicago from I-57 to where I-90 splits off toward O'Hare, and also some bits in the Twin Cities.

[ftballfan]

Drove the Benton Harbor to Mattawan segment of I-94 for the first time a couple of weeks ago. IMO, that stretch is fine with two lanes each way

[Flint1979]

Drove the Benton Harbor to Mattawan segment of I-94 for the first time a couple of weeks ago. IMO, that stretch is fine with two lanes each way

It might seem fine on a given day or because it's in a rural area but that area can generate a lot of traffic. That part isn't as bad as the part between Jackson and Kalamazoo especially the closer you get to Kalamazoo but it really should be six lanes in the areas where it's currently four lanes. It's just the Detroit-Chicago traffic generates a lot of truck traffic.

[ftballfan]

IL/IN border area; like driving in a video game.  Trucks in lanes they're not allowed in, people weaving in and out, random backups...
Southeast suburbs (IN); stay in the left lane anywhere west of I-65 if you hope to actually get anywhere
Rest of IN; smooth ride
New Buffalo, MI; last time by, this really needed a repaving

Unfortunately, I-94 is a terrible experience between the north side of Chicago and Lake Station, IN.  The rest has its flaws, but it isn't nearly as bad.

I drove I-94 from the Tri-State to the I-196 split last night and it was traffic hell from the Tri-State to around Cline Ave. I almost got cut off by a truck coming out of the Southside oasis. There were constant slowdowns and that doesn't even mention the trucks running in the two left lanes (which is illegal through that stretch). At least I missed the honey spill from earlier yesterday. Despite the toll road being one lane through East Chicago due to construction and the Skyway being very expensive, I much prefer I-90 over I-80/I-94 through NW Indiana and the south side of Chicago.

[Flint1979]

IL/IN border area; like driving in a video game.  Trucks in lanes they're not allowed in, people weaving in and out, random backups...
Southeast suburbs (IN); stay in the left lane anywhere west of I-65 if you hope to actually get anywhere
Rest of IN; smooth ride
New Buffalo, MI; last time by, this really needed a repaving

Unfortunately, I-94 is a terrible experience between the north side of Chicago and Lake Station, IN.  The rest has its flaws, but it isn't nearly as bad.

I drove I-94 from the Tri-State to the I-196 split last night and it was traffic hell from the Tri-State to around Cline Ave. I almost got cut off by a truck coming out of the Southside oasis. There were constant slowdowns and that doesn't even mention the trucks running in the two left lanes (which is illegal through that stretch). At least I missed the honey spill from earlier yesterday. Despite the toll road being one lane through East Chicago due to construction and the Skyway being very expensive, I much prefer I-90 over I-80/I-94 through NW Indiana and the south side of Chicago.

Without looking I think it's 5 extra miles from Lake Station to 63rd Street in Chicago by taking I-80/94 and then just I-94 vs. taking I-90 The Skyway. I don't know anyone that would want to add on 5 extra miles when you don't have to with Chicago's traffic. I think the $9 to cross the bridge (I think that's the toll) is worth it but it sucks that they have to charge a toll just to cross a bridge.

[amroad17]

It's not just any bridge--it's THE CHICAGO SKYWAY!!!