Traffic to MDW

Is T-3 hrs. really the right time to leave for MDW from Skokie?

My mom's flight was 1653 hrs Friday. She wanted to leave for MDW at 1400, but I thought that was ridiculous. We ended up leaving at 1447. At 1458, we entered the Edens Expressway. About a minute later, we passed the sign north of Touhy, which read "60 MINUTES TO CIRCLE.*" We didn't have that kind of time. We wanted to be at MDW by 1600. We took Touhy to Lincoln to Peterson to Ridge to Bryn Mawr to Lake Shore Drive. That wasn't so bad. The Drive was fine until we took the ramp to I-55. One mile after we entered the Stevenson Expressway, the backup began, and the sign said "27 MINUTES TO HARLEM." We were moving about 5mph. After about 15 minutes, we exited at Damen Avenue and took Damen to Archer to Kedzie to 47th to Cicero. All streets were awful except 47th. Airport arrival: between 1610 and 1615. Driver and passenger both exhausted. Passenger very concerned she would miss flight. Driver has plenty of experience dropping people off at airports and replied, "I've never lost a passenger!" The streak continues. No tickets, no red-light camera shots, thank G-d.

Heading north was tricky as well. Candle-lighting was 1701, and I barely had 45 minutes to make that. After crawling along Cicero from 57th to 47th or so, I flew up the Stevenson at speeds up to 89mph. I was hoping the Drive would be a breeze as well. No such luck. Eighteenth Street to Chicago Avenue was sluggish, and the S-curve north to North Avenue was about 5mph. I exited at North and moved through the Park to Belmont. It didn't go well, but faster than the Drive. I didn't have time to search for parking near my host's apartment, so I pulled into the shul parking lot at 1703. The security guard locked it a few minutes later. Phew!


*The location just west of downtown where three expressways meet, and still a considerable distance from Midway Airport.