Straight across I80/90 from NY to CA or another route?

[Mike & Mike]

Hi all,

We're going to be in a hurry to get our motorhome across country and I see that going via I-40 adds about 400 miles. Is the southern route preferrable for any reason: safer, more camping opportunities, less traffic, fuel costs, anything?

Do you have any suggestions of anything to avoid?

We're not at all familiar with "toll roads" back east. But it looks like hundreds of miles of the Interstate is a toll road. Do you suggest using these?

Either way, it's going to be a speed run, we just want it to be safe and quick.

Thanks for any comments!

Mike and Michele

[Mike & Mike]

Hi all,

We're going to be in a hurry to get our motorhome across country and I see that going via I-40 adds about 400 miles. Is the southern route preferrable for any reason: safer, more camping opportunities, less traffic, fuel costs, anything?

Do you have any suggestions of anything to avoid?

We're not at all familiar with "toll roads" back east. But it looks like hundreds of miles of the Interstate is a toll road. Do you suggest using these?

Either way, it's going to be a speed run, we just want it to be safe and quick.

Thanks for any comments!

Mike and Michele

[K-Star]

I am sitting in SD as I write this.

I-80 thru Ohio and Indiana are toll roads. Each state cost about 15-20 bucks. I-90 thru Illinois has a few toll booths. Each was about a buck. It is a convenient route. I did not mind the tolls.

I-90 thru MN was certainly interesting. Very rough road. I almost lost my lunch a few times from bouncing around.

[Mike & Mike]

Thanks John and Joyce, we'll watch out for MN!

Mike & Michele

[Paul Heuvelhorst]

We are in Sioux Falls, SD as I write this. We went east from Reno on I-80. I-80 is boring, very rough in Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska due to construction. We dropped into Missouri, then north through Iowa to Minnesota, then east to Michigan and Ohio. Ohio's gas is consistantly cheaper than any other state.

We decided to go home via I-90. Minnesota has some road construction, but I-90 seems fine to us, compared to I-80. I should add that we travel at 55, not the posted maximum speed limit which is 70 or more in most of the state I mentioned. The slower speed may make the roads seem smoother!!!

Tomorrow we continue west to Mt. Rushmore before heading into Idaho and home via Oregon and 395 to Susanville, CA.

[Ding-a-ling]

Allow me to suggest another option. In western IL take I-74 from I-80 just east of Davenport, IA. Use Indianapolis loop I-465 to I-70 through IN, OH and in to PA. Then I-76 (PA Tpke) east to I-81.

I-80 has construction near Chicago and in central PA but is good 3 lane all thru OH and western PA is recently rebuilt.

Safe miles.

[Route 66]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I-80 has construction near Chicago </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Construction or not, it's going to be some slow going around Chicago.

[Cruzer]

You'll probably get a few different ideas on this because everyone thinks a little differently so there is no absolute.

We travel I-80 and I-90 quite a bit, as well as Chicago (unfortunately ). Both I-80 and I-90 are decent roads. You'll always find construction someplace in summer regardless of where you go, but we just went to the coast and back on I-90 and had no issues. The MN section of I-90 does have some ripples in parts but it's nothing that I'd shy away from.

The biggest thing for me is that I-90 has the best selection of "support facilities" along the way. By that I mean rest areas, campgrounds, fuel, etc. There are plenty of interesting things to see if you ever feel the need to stop and lots of places to pull in for a rest stop or lunch break. I-80 would be my second choice but you will encounter more truck traffic on I-80 than you do on I-90.

As to I-40, that's not my favorite run. You get toll roads in Oklahoma and it's much more boring drive. At least that's my opinion.

[Mike & Mike]

Thanks all, for your replies. You've given me some good ideas and some things to look into.

Safe travels!

Mike and Michele