Hi, would anyone know what time my son should leave from campus to Midway if his flight is at 8:15 tomorrow night? Taking into account that he’ll probably be ubering during rush hour and also the night before Thanksgiving. Also, have a great Thanksgiving, everyone ?.
He’ll want to be there by 6 pm. If he leaves 4:45 or 5 pm that’s plenty of time. Say 4:30 in order to keep you from worrying. Does he have afternoon classes?
He might try to catch Uber pool as there should be a good crowd heading to Midway from HP tomorrow!
Thanks for the advice! And good idea on the pool. I also heard there was some construction by the airport terminals recently, so I’ll definitely let him know to get there earlier, since he has no afternoon classes.
Yes, there is construction but they just re-direct traffic and drop-off points around that. Many if not most airports have expansion and refurbishment going on 
Safe travels to him and to all!
He can also monitor traffic and driving time on google maps…the trip can take much longer than normal on wednesday before thanksgiving.
Had a son who flew out of both Chicago airports multiple times, including Thanksgiving / Christmas. For Midway, in my opinion, JBStillFlying’s recommendations are conservative and should give your son plenty of time even in the event of extremely long security lines or traffic issues. My son never minded leaving early because he was happy to spend any excess time reading while waiting at the airport.
This is from the perspective of a local Chicagoan.
Normal travel time between Main Quad and Midway is 25 minutes. The route will take you going north on Lake Shore Drive (LSD) and then on to the I-55 ramp near McCormick Place to I-55 (which we call Stevenson). Then you will exit at Cicero Ave. and go down straight south to Midway Airport. This is a roundabout route. It actually goes north and then come back down southwest.
The local route will be just go straight west on W. Garfield Blvd./55th Street. It is half the distance from the above route but because of the red light it may take 29 minutes.
Here is the catch. Around Thanksgiving traffic can be horrendous on Stevenson, especially the stretch between downtown and Cicero exit. You can be literally sitting on Stevenson and not moving an inch for minutes. Indeed traffic will be horrible on every Chicago highway at this time of the year. We live in the suburbs. Yesterday when we drove home from Main Campus, the travel time doubled. On Wednesday it is likely to be worse.
On the other hand, driving on local street may not have this problem. However, some cab drivers or Uber drivers may be reluctant to drive on W. Garfield between Hyde Park and Ashland Ave. That is a high crime area and understandably they may not want to risk their lives to go through some of the worst neighborhoods in Chicago.
My advice:
- Have your son look at Google Map to check the traffic. Holiday traffic may start as early as 2:00 pm.
- If your son doesn't have a lot of luggage, then an alternate route will be to take an Uber to downtown and take the Orange line to MDW. Taking the El is an almost foolproof way to beat the traffic.
P.S. Normally it will be 15 minutes ride to downtown and the Orange Line runs every 9 minute at downtown stop. It will take 40 minutes train ride to arrive at MDW.
The actual fastest, non-traffic dependent way to get to Midway is to take Metra to Museum Campus (express trains: 12 minutes, non-express trains: 15 minutes), then walk over to Roosevelt and take the Orange Line (like @85bears46 says, it takes about ~15 minutes, though it’s scheduled to take around 20).
The advantage here is you never have to worry about traffic and it’s way cheaper than an uber. Station-to-station Metra beats cars.
The disadvantage is you have to work with the Metra schedules, and it’s kinda logistically complicated. It may take longer than expected accounting for waiting periods and you’ve gotta walk over to the Metra.
I live in the suburbs and I take the train to work at the Loop since 1990’s. Metra train schedule is relatively easy to work with for me.
https://metrarail.com/maps-schedules/train-lines/ME
The Metra Electric Line going to Chicago from Hyde Park usually has 3 trains per hour going north to the Loop on weekdays. I wholeheartedly agree with @HydeSnark that the Metra/Orange Line El is the most efficient and economic and of course traffic congestion free option. Metra fare is $4.25 one way and El is $2.5. As long as you are willing to walk a bit in between Museum Campus stop and Roosevelt El station (and from dorm to Metra station in HP), the whole transit will cost $6.75. No way you can get Uber or cab cheaper than that. And the Metra/El combo is a great urban experience. .
Don’t mean to hijack, but can anyone recommend best way to get to O’hare from Hyde Park? I have a work related meeting in a few months and want to avoid the atrocious traffic on I-90.
@sgopal2 Unless you have a lot of luggage and it is polar vortex out there, the best way to avoid traffic on Kennedy will be to take No. 6 bus or Metra Electric Line to downtown and then walk a couple of blocks to take the CTA blue line to ORD.
https://www.transitchicago.com/blueline/#map
There is nothing more comforting than to ride on the blue line going to O’Hare at full speed and watch the traffic coming to a full stop at rush hour on Kennedy right next to the CTA train track 
. If I have to get on a flight after work from the Loop, I will take the El and not a cab or Uber.
@85bears46: thanks, much appreciated. Will definitely try out your recommendation.
Thanks to all for the great advice. After all the talk about ubering, he and his house mates decided to take a bus together and were able to get to the terminal and get through security all in 1 hour. Does the entire freshmen class just decide to do everything together now? I guess we just have to let them explore and figure it out for themselves sometimes, but they appreciated our ‘backup’ plan lol. He said they were eating at the airport.
@uocparent When your son said he took a bus, does that mean he took the #55 bus from Hyde Park all the way to Midway Airport? Just curious.
@85bears46 my D has taken a bus as well - she would catch it right outside South. Can’t remember the # but had the impression it was a pretty common route to Midway from UChicago. The bus terminal at Midway is in the same location as the Orange line station.
I recall exactly two unusual traffic patterns on the Kennedy during Rush Hour. One was the deluge of '87 that basically shut the city down one summer day. That was a fun day off from work. The other was the Great Chicago River Flood of '92 that basically evacuated the Loop - inbound Kennedy had very light traffic, while the Metra trains were booking out of the city fairly quickly. I was headed back to HP from a weekend in Madison that morning and the reverse traffic flow for the time of day was quite notable. Other than that - the Kennedy is typically jammed (however, it was worse before the expansion!). Public transit to ORD from HP is a decent option; however, the times I’ve examined that option or done it myself it was slower than driving. It might depends on time of day. Also, it’s going to be relatively stress-free and a lot less expensive than ubering.
@JBStillFlying I have driven on 55th/Garfield Blvd. many times to get to school in the morning. Basically, the section between Washington Park and Ashland Avenue is more iffy. You can see board up houses or apartment buildings in decrepit conditions. The section between Ashland and Cicero is now mainly Hispanic neighborhood and is a whole lot less hairy.
https://www.transitchicago.com/bus/55/
Taking the #55 bus at daytime should be okay. Yes, Washington Park can have violent crime but mostly it happens after dark and not on main thoroughfare like Garfield Blvd.
@85bears46 They took the 55 bus and said it only took them 40 minutes to get to the airport (they thought it might take an hour), and the security lines were not long, so it was a really smooth trip. I’d tell him to uber it however, when going back to campus by himself, as I’m not sure yet about the 55 bus if he’s travelling alone. Still, they wanted to be at the airport really early just in case. Better waiting at the airport than missing their flight.
I wouldn’t worry about taking busses alone - unless you feel your stop is unsafe. If it’s HP to Midway then either 55 or the one my D takes from BJ/South should be fine. We used to DRIVE on 55th to Midway back in the bad old 80’s and the level of crime along parts of the route now, while bad, isn’t what it was then. You aren’t exactly getting off the bus in the section between WP and Ashland.
Unrelated to the OP topic but I am surprised to find out that Baker Dining Commons is open today on Thanksgiving Day but only up to 2:30 pm. So kids staying at school for Thanksgiving can have their turkey for LUNCH. They have to find some place to eat for their dinner then. Maybe they can get a doggie bag before they leave Baker
@85bears46 At least in my DD’s case, she and the others in her house who opted to stay will be eating dinner with their Resident Heads. No doggie bags needed