Chicago freeway tops freight bottlenecks

Updated Sep 28, 2011


Circle Interchange of I-290 and I-90/I-94 in ChicagoCircle Interchange of I-290 and I-90/I-94 in Chicago


Chicago’s freeway intersection of I-290 at I-90/I-94 was the most congested location for trucks, according to research conducted in 2010.

Ranking second most congested was I-95 at State Route 4 in Fort Lee, N.J., based on monitoring performed by the American Transportation Research Institute and the Federal Highway Administration Office of Freight Management and Operations.

Truckers in Houston face heavy congestion as the next three chokepoints in the ranking of 250 highway locations turn up in a tight bundle: I-45 at U.S. 59, I-10 at I-45 and I-10 at U.S. 59.

This annual report focused on “freight-significant highway infrastructure” and utilized GPS technology and trucking operation data. It measured truck travel speeds weekdays at various times in computing a congestion index for each location.

Kevin Knight, chairman and CEO of Knight Transportation, said “strengthening the efficiency of supply chains is becoming a critical component of U.S. economic growth. Challenge number one is identifying the freight bottlenecks. Fortunately, ATRI’s report goes far in using real-world data to tell us where the impediments lie.”

To view the report click here.