How many go through large cities at night?

[WyoFree]

Hi guys, I was just talking to a friend off mine, yah I have one! Telling him of my experience going through Indianapolis and Chicago not long ago. I wasn’t towing at the time and was glad I wasn’t because the traffic, construction and detours were horrendous.

He said he doesn’t go through large cities during the day when towing. He will lay up somewhere so he doesn’t go through the city until after midnight.

I’m curious how many also do that?

[Sgt B]

I simply avoid them completely; find another route even if it means going out of my way; I simply add it all into the trip.. My worse one is Atlanta, don't care if you use the bypass, go at midnight, be prepared for lots of traffic. Worse than Chicago in my view and lived up there for years.

[TexasJack]

Drives I have hated . . .
I35 in Austin, TX
I35 under construction.
I90 in Chicago morning rush
Any going through downtown Atlanta . . any time

Around Atlanta, not too bad, but I planned out the rush.
Around Chicago, Dallas and Ft Worth, easy. Same with Houston, though timing might be useful.

Bypass roads are good almost always.

[ArtJoyce]

We been know to lau up an hour or so out of an town and hit the road at 5:00 AM.

[NLOVNIT]

We learned early on to avoid large cities at their rush hour(s) times. Specifically planned stops/routing to avoid doing that. If something happened to screw up our plans (didn't leave on time or a traffic accident halting progress), we'd find an outlying rest area & wait out the heavy traffic time. In later years, we started leaving after dark the day before. 1. During summer it was SO much cooler traveling at night. 2. Traffic was practically non-existent. It was really pleasant driving at night. We'd overnight in a WalMart & get to our destination park the next day.

Even now, by myself, I still avoid large cities during those busy times.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by Sgt B

I simply avoid them completely; find another route even if it means going out of my way; I simply add it all into the trip.. My worse one is Atlanta, don't care if you use the bypass, go at midnight, be prepared for lots of traffic. Worse than Chicago in my view and lived up there for years.

WE travel secondary/backroads to avoid Interstates and Cities

[2cyber71]

Originally Posted by WyoFree

Hi guys, I was just talking to a friend off mine, yah I have one! Telling him of my experience going through Indianapolis and Chicago not long ago. I wasn’t towing at the time and was glad I wasn’t because the traffic, construction and detours were horrendous.

He said he doesn’t go through large cities during the day when towing. He will lay up somewhere so he doesn’t go through the city until after midnight.

I’m curious how many also do that?

It’s worse year after year.
I completely avoid Chicago now. I 80 between the Indiana border and Joliet is absolutely dangerous for RVers. It will destroy your suspension or get you into an accident.
I drive an extra hour but after the past two trips I felt safer and got to my next stop more relaxed.
This this is my route around Chicago

[dbircky]

Originally Posted by 2cyber71

It’s worse year after year.
I completely avoid Chicago now. I 80 between the Indiana border and Joliet is absolutely dangerous for RVers. It will destroy your suspension or get you into an accident.
I drive an extra hour but after the past two trips I felt safer and got to my next stop more relaxed.
This this is my route around Chicago

Attachment 375779

Not bad detour, I use 65s, 24w, and 39n. But please don’t let out my secret, it’s not crowded.

[WyoFree]

With all the GPS’s out there you’d think you could push a button or put into settings “No Major Cities”. There are all kinds of trucking GPS’s to keep us away from bad places. If an 18 wheeler can make it so can we!

Old-Biscuit, how do you route yourself around the cities?

[bigb56]

For cities we camp in the outskirts then get up real early the next morning to get thru. As far as major cities like Chicago, Atlanta etc it has been many years since I drove an RV thru a major city like that and I don't ever plan to. I have no problems with cities in CA or most of the West.

[carybosse]

I haven't done a lot of towing through the big cities - of course I have to escape the DFW area to get anywhere.

Fort Worth isn't too bad usually. Maybe heavy traffic, but the route I take has decently wide lanes. For Dallas, I take Hwy 360 thru Arlington down to I-20 and then east to head toward those locations.

When not towing, I often would travel after dark. Did a day trip to Baton Rouge from DFW once, roughly 450 miles each way. Left at 3 AM to head to BR, and left BR to return at 5 PM. (It was a Saturday, so rush hour was not really an issue.)

Have done similar with drives through Houston.

[gatorb8]

No way would I drive through a large city at night, what happened if there’s an emergency?

[followingsea]

Originally Posted by WyoFree

With all the GPS’s out there you’d think you could push a button or put into settings “No Major Cities”. There are all kinds of trucking GPS’s to keep us away from bad places. If an 18 wheeler can make it so can we!

Old-Biscuit, how do you route yourself around the cities?

I use maps and a trucker's atlas avoiding the interstate to avoid trucks and actually see America.

GPS and google maps like to route you on the interstate becuase it faster. If you are driving an RV you should not be driving that fast. That is assuming you are not stuck in traffic studying semi tires.

When I have decided on a route I program waypoints in my trcuker GPS that are not on the interstate but I make sure I already know my routes and if there are any restriction such as low clearence.

[WyoFree]

Hi guys, I don’t know that I want to totally keep off of interstates? I just want to keep away from high traffic cities. And I get your point about an emergency.

I know that some, maybe many, completely stay off the interstate system. Im thinking I may like that idea a lot. I’m old enough to remember when there were few interstates. And the highways we used then are still there today.

Yah I may really start thinking that way and really see our great country. Any negatives to that other than taking longer?

It would be nice to be able to select No Interstates just as you can No Tollroad!