Labor Day Weekend 2018: Worst Times To Travel, Routes To Avoid

Illinois will say goodbye to summer over Labor Day weekend, and the Illinois Tollway anticipates it will be an even bigger travel holiday than the Fourth of July, with nearly 8 million motorists on local highways between Friday, Aug. 31 and Tuesday, Sept. 4. The heaviest travel (or worst time to leave), around 2 million vehicles, is expected on Friday afternoon, compared with the daily average of around 1.6 million vehicles.

Most temporary maintenance and construction closures will be suspended from noon on Friday until 9 a.m. Tuesday, but depending on your road trip plans, you may still run into some traffic.

Here's a look at what you need to know before you hit the road this Labor Day weekend. (Get Patched In: Subscribe to free daily email, news alerts, Facebook fun and more from Patch)

Some areas to avoid:

Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294/I-80)

• On the Edens Spur, between Pfingsten Road and the Edens Expressway, traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction.
• Between Balmoral Avenue and the O’Hare Oasis traffic is shifted in both directions.
• On I-294, southbound traffic is shifted between Grand Avenue and Golf Road.
• On I-294, traffic is shifted in both directions at the Cermak, 82nd Street and 83rd Street toll plazas.
• At 159th Street Interchange the ramps carrying traffic from eastbound 159th Street to northbound I-294 and from southbound I-294 to eastbound 159th Street are closed with detours posted.

Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88)

• Between I-290 and York Road, traffic is shifted in both directions. Westbound drivers must travel in the right lane on I-88 to access the cash side of the York Road Toll Plaza as well as the 22nd Street exit ramp.
• On the ramp connecting eastbound I-88 to northbound I-355 one lane is closed.
• Between Illinois Route 56 and Illinois Route 251, traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction in segments.

Kennedy Expressway (I-90)

• Protesters have announced plans to shut down the Kennedy by entering at the Cumberland Avenue ramp around 11:30 a.m.

Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355)

• Between Army Trail Road and I-55, traffic is shifted in both directions.

For updated traffic, construction and road closing information, go to the websites for the Illinois Tollway and IDOT. Also, check out the Travel Midwest website or call 800-TOLL-FYI.

Where to get cheap gas

We've a little bit of bad news for you when it comes to gas prices. AAA expects them to hit a four-year high this Labor Day weekend. But the spike in prices will only be temporary, and it probably won't be huge.

“With Labor Day approaching, motorists could see a small swing towards higher gas prices, but any jump should not last past the holiday weekend,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson. And it won't be as bad as last year, when Hurricane Harvey contributed to a fairly large gas price increase over the holiday weekend.

Gas prices have been in a downward trend in recent weeks, with the national average holding steady at around $2.84 per gallon, two cents cheaper than a month ago, but 48 cents higher than this time last year, Casselano said in a blog post.

Illinois' average gas price was only slightly higher than the national average as of Aug. 29, at $2.87 per gallon. As usual, the average in the Chicago area was higher than across the state, at $3.01 per gallon. That could increase slightly as Labor Day weekend approaches. It's still likely to be better than the highest recorded gas price of $4.506, seen in Chicagoland in March 2012.

Prices have been fairly steady in Illinois, unlike other Midwestern states that have seen the largest increases in the last week — like Ohio, which saw a 10-cent surge, or Michigan, which saw a 5-cent increase.

With gas prices expected to continue to increase in the coming days, your best bet is to fill up ASAP. For the lowest gas prices near you, check the AAA website or head over to GasBuddy.com.

On the highways

Last year, five people died in Labor Day weekend car crashes on Illinois highways, down 78 percent from 23 fatalities in 2016.

Illinois State Police Director Leo P. Schmitz called Labor Day weekend 2017 "one of the safest Labor Day travel weekends we’ve experienced in Illinois in the last six years,” but added, "Five fatalities is still five too many. There were people who had their life torn apart because they lost a loved one due to a fatal traffic crash. The ISP will continue working to reduce fatalities to zero and to keep our citizens safe on Illinois roadways."

Illinois State Police will be running extra patrols along all of the state’s toll roads in an attempt to stop speeding and drunken driving. It’s a good idea this weekend to obey the posted speed limits, stay buckled up and stay off your cell phone while driving.

Some form of driver distraction involving a cellphone was responsible for more than 7,000 crashes in Illinois from 2011 to 2016, according to the tollway, and 43 of those crashes were fatal.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Drivers who need to use their cellphone on the way to their destinations can stop by any of the Safe Phone Zones sponsored by Geico located at Tollway oases.
• Tollway drivers who need roadway assistance can dial *999 to get help 24/7 from the Tollway’s roadway maintenance crews.
• The Tollway’s Highway Emergency Lane Patrol (H.E.L.P.) trucks will also be patrolling the Tollway system from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. on both Friday, Aug. 31 and on Monday, Sept. 3. State troopers patrol the Tollway system 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

On the railways

• Metra's $10 weekend pass will include Monday for Labor Day weekend; kids younger than 11 can ride for free.
• On Friday, Aug. 31, Metra will modify service to accommodate passengers leaving early to celebrate Labor Day Weekend. Trains will operate on an Early Getaway schedule on most lines. Full schedules are here.
• On Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 3, Metra will operate all services on a Sunday/holiday schedule. Metra’s SouthWest Service, Heritage Corridor and North Central Service lines will not operate on Labor Day.
• Alcohol restrictions will also be in effect and no alcohol will be allowed onboard Metra trains after 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 30 and Friday, Aug. 31, and all day Saturday, Sept. 1 and Sunday, Sept. 2.

At the airports: Best & worst travel times

• An anticipated 16.1 million travelers are slated to travel through U.S. airports.
• O'Hare International Airport — which saw more than 1.6 million travelers last Labor Day weekend — is the sixth-busiest airport in the world, according to the Airports Council International, down from last year when it was in the top 3. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remains the busiest, and the next busiest in the U.S. is LAX, at No. 5.
• Friday, Aug. 31 will be the busiest day for airline travel. The day after Labor Day (Tuesday, Sept. 4) is expected to be the second-busiest time, according to RewardExpert, which analyzed five years of flight data from the Department of Transportation.
• The best days to travel are the actual weekend, Saturday and Sunday, or the Wednesday after Labor Day (Sept. 5).

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images