Labor Day Weekend Travel: Routes To Avoid, Where To Get Cheap Gas

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 an anticipated 8 million motorists on local highways between Friday, Sept. 1 and Tuesday, Sept. 5. The heaviest travel, 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. on 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. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Some areas to avoid:

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

• On the Mile Long Bridge, traffic in both directions is shifted.
• At the Grand Avenue Interchange, westbound I-94 traffic is shifted. Additionally, the eastbound Grand Avenue entrance ramp to westbound I-94 is closed and detoured.

Jane Adams Memorial Tollway (I-90)

• At Illinois Route 23, traffic in both directions is reduced to two lanes.

Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88)

• Just west of Illinois Route 26 in Dixon, all traffic is shifted on to the eastbound side of the road and traffic in both directions is reduced to one lane.
• At the Farnsworth Avenue Interchange, all ramps are open. Westbound traffic is shifted.

Illinois Route 390 Tollway

• Along Thorndale Avenue from I-290 to York Road and on the I-290 Interchange, construction is ongoing. Traffic is shifted onto frontage roads in both directions between I-290 and York Road.

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 got some bad news for you. Thanks to Hurricane Harvey, one-fourth of the oil refining capacity on the Gulf Coast has been taken offline, and eight Texas refineries have shut down. That's contributed to nationwide gas price increases, and a 6-cent increase here in Illinois.

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.

Labor Day 2017: Fun Facts For The Holiday

On the highways

Last year, 14 people died in Labor Day weekend car crashes on Illinois highways, and state troopers arrested 121 drunken drivers.

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, Sept. 1, and on Monday, Sept. 4. State troopers patrol the Tollway system 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

On the railways

• Metra's $8 weekend pass will include Monday this weekend; kids younger than 11 can ride for free.
• On Labor Day, Metra will operate all services on a Sunday/holiday schedule. Metra SouthWest Service, Heritage Corridor and North Central Service trains 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. 31 and Friday, Sept. 1, and all day Saturday, Sept. 2 and Sunday, Sept. 3.

At the airports

• An anticipated 16.1 million travelers slated to travel through U.S. airports.
• O'Hare International Airport — which saw more than 1.6 million travelers last Labor Day weekend — is expected to be among the three busiest airports in the country, along with Los Angeles International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
• Friday, Sept. 1 will be the busiest day for airline travel.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images