Madison WI to Elkhart IN avoiding Chicago?

[msw3113]

We will pull our 5th wheel trailer from Madison WI to Elkhart In soon. We've been warned not to travel through Chicago if at all possible.
We'd be grateful for any suggestions from those familiar with such alternate route(s).

 

[Laura & Charles]

Stay on the southern outskirts… it’s worth the extra time. Take 39 to 80/94/90. 80 will skim along south side… usually not bad if you can avoid rush hour. Have your EZPass ready.

Any further avoidance routes are going to add WAY too much time. But, as an example of how much I want to avoid Chicago, I’ve needed to get from Madison to Columbus OH and once, when we had no schedule restraints, we actually went north and across the UP on 2. It was autumn and the foliage was outstanding.

 

[zulu]

Stay on the southern outskirts… it’s worth the extra time. Take 39 to 80/94/90. 80 will skim along south side… usually not bad if you can avoid rush hour.

We had our first RV breakdown on the "usually not bad" I-80.

As a former Badger state resident, I also suggest taking I-39 to I-80, but getting off I-80 as far south of Chicago as possible . . . at least as far as state highway 30 near New Lenox. Then onto Indiana . . . if you have the time even further south on I-39.

 

[John From Detroit]

The Trick to trafveling through a big city like Chicago is A tock a tock a tick a tock TIMING.
You hit the city at rush hour.. Find parking and wait. You hit the city at oh say 3AM Sunday Morning (I'm doing extremes here) "Where are all those cars they warned me about"?

That said. I do not know the times for Chicago but I've never run into traffic jams.

 

[Krazeehorse33]

When we visit my son in Madison we take the 355/290 outer belt to 90 skirting the south and west sides of Chicago and avoiding downtown. Like John said, timing is everything. I've gone through downtown on a Sunday morning before six and it was like driving out here in the sticks.

 

[winona]

I’m back and forth on occasion from the loop to northwest Indiana. You have to go thru the city to get to the Indiana toll road (I 90), but it’s lightly traveled from the southern part of Dan Ryan and on to the east. Costs a bundle but less traffic than the Borman 80-94. All that being said, it’s a crap shoot no matter when or what road. Just be prepared to go slow.