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Avoid Chicago traffic at all costs...

Pack a lunch, an extra five gallon can of gas, and a port-a-potty!!! I hate that drive!!!

When we made our last drive through there in early April, the roads were like the Roman Ruins!!! Construction everywhere and lane closings.

Several others I have talked to, who make that drive regularly, say to go west, past Chicago, then head north on the Interstates.

No real good way to do it, but going west is better than going through the city. That being said, a couple of times we took Lakeshore Drive through downtown, we lucked out and it worked out very nicely for us......... heading to Northwestern University. Traffic lights keep things moving and there's no one cutting you off or jamming up the off and on ramps.

The time element is everything with that drive, but again......... nothing much good to choose from......IMHO.

Bloke....... you might be better off trying to alter your arrival time, one way or the other, to avoid the high traffic times. I edited my original post to mention the construction too. I don't know if it's still going on, but my guess would be that it still is.

Good luck with you decision and trip.

Not far enough north of Milwuakee to make east of lake michigan and through upper peninsula make sense, i assume?

Friend and i went through there in June. At 4am. My friend drove and was surprised i slept through it all.

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I-39 is your ticket. Avoid Chicago as you would Atlanta. Cars everywhere for miles. It there is construction on 39 and beyond the number of ppl will be less. You can get some good mps buzzing done in a traffic jam..

Drive to Lansing, go all the way West to the lake, take a ferry across.

I've driven through Chicago three times. Once at noon. It took me 3 hours to get only a few miles through the city on I-90. I can't imagine what rush hour would be like. The next time I drove north through the city was at 4am. Flew through it.

Adding an hour to the trip on paper will almost certainly save you time.

Yes “if” I know there is some construction north of Bloomington moves quick tho not sure what’s up north of I80. I55 is terrible from Bloomington to 294.

We've traversed Chicago many, many times, and lived in Deerfield for 7 years.
Chicago is fairly easily navigable - except rush hours. Or pre-holidays. Or Post. Or when any of the Bears, Sox, Cubs, Blackhawks, or Bulls are playing. Therefore, Yes - go west, young man.
You have a good plan.