Traffic Bottlenecks: Chicago Area Has 4 Of The Top 100 In U.S.

ILLINOIS — If you've driven in the Chicago area, you know how terrible traffic can be on its highways.

So it's no surprise that four high-traffic areas in the region are among the 100 worst truck bottlenecks in the nation. In fact, one ranks among the top ten worst.

According to the American Transportation Research Institute, three locations on I-90 at I-94 and one on I-80 at I-94 are bottleneck hotspots.

On Interstate 290, the junction at Interstate 90/94 was ranked No. 6, with congestion at its worst between 3 and 6 p.m., when traffic all but grinds to a halt and speeds slow to an average of 20 mph. Other spots getting dishonorable mention:

• No. 19: I-80 at I-94, with the worst congestion between 4 and 5 p.m.
• No. 23: I-90 at I-94 South, with the worst congestion between 3 and 6 p.m.
• No. 38: I-90 at I-94 North, with the worst congestion between 3 and 6 p.m.

The list is compiled each year by the American Transportation Research Institute to measure the level of truck-involved congestion at more than 300 locations across the national highway system.

In 2021, Illinois also had four of the 100 worst bottlenecks — at exactly the same locations.

ATRI compiles the congestion impact ranking using GPS data from more than 1 million freight trucks, along with several customized software applications and analysis methods, and terabytes of data from trucking operations.

The data also is used to support the U.S. Department of Transportation's Freight Mobility Initiative, Institute officials said.

In addition, the analysis that was pulled from 2021 data found that traffic levels across the country rebounded as more Americans returned to work and demand for consumer goods and services bounced back following the early months of the pandemic. The result was bottlenecking in supply chains, ATRI President and CEO Chris Spear said.

"ATRI's bottleneck list is a roadmap for federal and state administrators responsible for prioritizing infrastructure investments throughout the country," Spear said. "Every year, ATRI's list highlights the dire needs for modernizing and improving our roads and bridges. We have seen, most recently in Pittsburgh, that the cost of doing nothing could also cost lives. It's time to fund these projects and get our supply chains moving again."

New Jersey's I-95 at State Route 4 in Fort Lee tops the list for the fourth year in a row, followed by I-71 at I-75 in Cincinnati at No. 2, and Houston's I-45 at I-69/US 59. For a list of all 100 bottlenecks ranked and a full list of the report, go to ATRI's website.

Max Bennett, Patch Staff, contributed to this article