The Best Time of Day to Leave Chicago for Thanksgiving is ...

Written by Dennis Robaugh

If you’re leaving Chicago for Thanksgiving, the worst time of day to skip town is 3 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday. You can thank Google for that insight.

The search giant analyzed Google Maps data, search traffic and other information about Chicago and other cities to arrive at several conclusions about traffic patterns heading into this holiday weekend, reports Chicago Inno.

So, if you leave before 2 p.m. or after 6 p.m. you’ll encounter less traffic.

Among Google’s other findings:

• The top three Google Maps trends in the United States on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving are: “ham shop,” “pie shop” and “liquor store.”
• Chicago doesn’t see high traffic on the roads and highways on Black Friday.
• Traffic is 20 percent worse on Saturday than it is on Sunday. Probably because we really don’t want to spend that much time with our families, so we’re eager to hit the road Saturday.

» more via Chicago Inno