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Permalink Reply by Brian Bird on April 24, 2010 at 7:59am

California south is the best southbound route where there is the least amount of traffic. And you don't have to deal with the Western Avenue - Midway/Ford City vehicle traffic. For a more direct route on mostly four-lane roads, consider this route variation:

1. California southbound to 95th Street (Evergreen Park),
2. Right onto 95th St (at LCoM Hospital), heading west, cross Cicero Ave then a RR track,
3. Left onto Central Ave, heading south (going through Chicago Ridge),
4. Right onto 115th, heading west (at Holy Sepulchure Cemetery),
5. Left onto Ridgeland Avenue, heading south, cross the Cal-Sag, take it to the "T" (at 143rd St),
6. Right onto 143rd Street, heading west, turning left, becoming Oak Park Avenue south (at Jack Gibbons Gardens restaurant),
7. Follow Oak Park Avenue south, crossing 159th St., 167th St., go through Tinley Park, and rejoin your original route plan at 183rd St and Oak Park Avenue.

You'll be on four-lane roads the entire stretch except from 143rd Street to the Oak Park Avenue and 159th Street intersection which is two-laned for about 2 miles. There is no easy way over the Cal-Sag because there's only a half-dozen avenues that cross over it. I've found in my riding experience that the Ridgeland bridge has had the least amount of car traffic.

Full disclosure: I live in the burbs (Orland Park) and have no trouble riding my bike on Southwest Highway, so I'm at ease riding extremely close to suburban car/SUV/HEMI vehicles.

Hope this helps!

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Permalink Reply by Kelli on April 24, 2010 at 10:04am

I like this - might have to try it out. I am not far from Lincoln Square, I grew up in EP (right across from LCOM) and my parents now live in Tinley. Thanks for the info.

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Permalink Reply by Ricardo Cervantes on April 24, 2010 at 2:03pm

California is a good choice, but it doesn't go all the way through to 95th. It ends at around south 74th street, and picks up again on 79th, or thereabouts. You'd go over to Western for a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on May 9, 2010 at 2:06pm

Thanks Brian. I took this route recently. It was good for a few items. The four lane road issue really gets me. I have difficultly with them as a I feel pressured. It's mostly in my head, after a few times I'll get over it.

The one that worries me is that it takes me somewhat near Englewood. It was great until there, then it degraded quickly. No issues on a Sunday morning, but I'm not sure if that would be the case other times of the day.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Bird on May 9, 2010 at 3:00pm

I've ridden that route only during the 6am-8am inbound and 2:30pm-5pm outbound on weekends only. I've never had a problem with the traffic or any personal issues. Forgot about the California interruption and apologize for not informing you. For that issue, I run one of the numbered streets west to Crawford south in lieu of Western for the five-block detour on account that Crawford is (slightly) less congested than Western.

To Kelli: I was raised at 91st and Mozart across from NEES.


Adam "Cezar" Jenkins said:

Thanks Brian. I took this route recently. It was good for a few items. The four lane road issue really gets me. I have difficultly with them as a I feel pressured. It's mostly in my head, after a few times I'll get over it.

The one that worries me is that it takes me somewhat near Englewood. It was great until there, then it degraded quickly. No issues on a Sunday morning, but I'm not sure if that would be the case other times of the day.

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