Loved this one, Jim. Chicago will always be my number one city in the world. "Big Freeways" is not what comes to my mind when I think of Chicago (unlike, say, LA, Houston or Dallas), but this certainly proves that it does have pretty impressive ones. Are you posting a Lake Shore Dr video?
Jim, the best since the Big Dig, maybe even the best ever!! Great native Illinois accompanying track to an awesome show of an iconic road and rail artery. As my sidenote, will never forget splitting a timing belt on the ramp from the Eastbound Stevenson to the Northbound Ryan. IDOT had me rescued in minutes, thank God!
Thank you so much for posting this - now I feel like I'm right back at home. I was born and raised in Chicago (well, technically in Zion near the Wisconsin state line to the north) and this is just beautifully done. Chicago is without a doubt the most beautiful city in the World. I love all of your videos, but the music you chose fits in perfectly with this. I get goosebumps thinking about the Windy City and growing up there. Thank you so much!
The Dan Ryan is one badass mofo! It is hands down the best freeway in Chicago. I remember riding along that stretch in 2003, and the reconstruction doesn't look too entirely different than how it was before. Maybe just a tad wider? Interesting fact about where REO originated; I didn't know that. Awesome video, my man!
@CosmoPhotography Thank you! I agree, I think it's the best freeway, er expressway in Chicago. I think the reconstruction added a lane to I-94 east of where I-90 comes in but nearly a $Billion seems like a lot for what was done, no new or notable structures. It's nice but not too much different from what I saw my only time there before in 2005.
I remember driving through Chicago a while back and let me tell you. It was a pain in the ASS when I found out this thing runs North-south, when its composed as West-East. Didn't you get confused?
@fldoughboy72 I purposely stopped doing that, it junked up the video and took away from the overall experience IMO, there are plenty of exit lists on the internet for that information. It was especially difficult to do on urban freeways like this where exits are frequent, sometimes there would not be enough time (at least 4 seconds) to leave each exit up. Trust me, it's for the better.
@fldoughboy72 I do make note of major interchanges as they are important but street exits, not so much. I also figured where possible that the AUTHENTIC signs would be better than anything I typed in a colored band :)
@fldoughboy72: I think Jim had a valid reason for stopping that practice, as he already noted down below. The only realistic way to include all the exits is to make separate signs or do what I do, which is to have different colored annotations. It's definitely a bit of a hassle.
I lived in Chicago in the late 60's 1967 to be exact thank you for the new tour of one ofm the largest cities in the USA , gotta love that 5 pm traffic in Chicago .
@FreewayAndrew I don't think Chicago drivers ever get as aggressive as, say, Texas drivers or East Coast drivers. Seriously, I lived there for a while and all my friends from Wisconsin and Minnesota were always complaining about how rude Chicago drivers were. Seriously, whoever thinks that needs to get out of the Midwest. Almost anywhere you go in the world, they're worse drivers in one way or another.
GREAT! Loved the way you ended this video, with that magnificent view of the Chicago skyline.
This video brought back some good memories of my time in Chicago. I did not get to see the Dan Ryan in "all its glory," as I drove it while it was under reconstruction. The final product looks great. Favorited!
@Freewayjim I would say it would be quite interesting going through Milwaukee on the North-South from south of the airport through to north of downtown - construction galore, though if you like what they did near the outlet mall just north of the state line.... just don't care for the current governor in WI.
@viking2000rob Well I have some footage and am currently working on it, you'll just have to see what I come up with :) I though Milwaukee was pretty neat overall.
I don't know what politics has to do with any of this but you are certainly entitled to your opinion.
Perfect ending! Chicago traffic is possibly the worst I've ever experienced. I though Detroit was a nightmare until I moved here!
XXChicagoGuy 1 week ago
Illinois Interstates Before Dan Ryan Expy Reconstruction In 2006-2007 I-90 From WA TO MA
americanfanof201130e 1 month ago
Nice work, love all your videos, subscribed =D
speedking999 4 months ago
@speedking999 Thank you!
Freewayjim 4 months ago
Great video!!
TransitAlderman 4 months ago
@TransitAlderman Thank you!
Freewayjim 4 months ago
The Rush Hour In The Lane See Any Hours
8RAPS 6 months ago
In I-94 it is an free freeway. You have a awesome video even. Can I have permission to copy.
osterman9439 6 months ago
the main difference Ive notice between the old and the new Dan Ryan is. They tore down all the old streetlights and put the mass lights up.
krklafej 6 months ago
u should have a TV show
MrMarkingston 6 months ago 3
@MrMarkingston Thanks, that would be fun!
Freewayjim 6 months ago
You didn't mention what is missing when I-57 crosses I-294.
dvdskck 6 months ago
@dvdskck No, but I did mention it at 3:57 of the previous video (I-294 Tri-State Tollway passing beneath it)
Freewayjim 6 months ago
@drunkinpainter666 Thanks, there's MUCH more coming.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
What's that in the sky at 5:50?
FinlaythePug 7 months ago
@FinlaythePug It looks like some sort of kite or flag, I was not paying attention to it at the time.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
Ahhh. You shoulda stayed on the Dan Ryan until it gets to 290. The view of the skyline is great from that bridge is second to none.
StylistecS 7 months ago
@StylistecS I couldn't as traffic was backed up ahead, I noted that in the video.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
@Freewayjim oops. Missed that. I was enjoying the ride.
StylistecS 6 months ago
Loved this one, Jim. Chicago will always be my number one city in the world. "Big Freeways" is not what comes to my mind when I think of Chicago (unlike, say, LA, Houston or Dallas), but this certainly proves that it does have pretty impressive ones. Are you posting a Lake Shore Dr video?
AlvinHDavernport 7 months ago
@AlvinHDavernport Thank you, yes I have many more Chicago videos coming after I'm done with Milwaukee and Lake Shore Drive is among them.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
The Best Cities Like A Chicagoland
8RAPS 7 months ago
See The Most Longest Expressway See Did The Cross Interstates Cities:Detroit,Atlanta,Miami,Big Apple,Philly
8RAPS 7 months ago
@8RAPS The longest interstate is I-90: Boston to Seattle (including the Dan Ryan)
Freewayjim 7 months ago
I luv chi-town its a great city
Dhunt7877 7 months ago
Jim, the best since the Big Dig, maybe even the best ever!! Great native Illinois accompanying track to an awesome show of an iconic road and rail artery. As my sidenote, will never forget splitting a timing belt on the ramp from the Eastbound Stevenson to the Northbound Ryan. IDOT had me rescued in minutes, thank God!
mizzouluvr 7 months ago
@mizzouluvr Thank you, I think I have better things on the horizon :)
Freewayjim 7 months ago
Look Diferent To 1990s The Dan Ryan Expy
8RAPS 7 months ago
Bad Traffic Most Cool Cross Chicago
8RAPS 7 months ago
The Best Road Some Cool
8RAPS 7 months ago
Thank you so much for posting this - now I feel like I'm right back at home. I was born and raised in Chicago (well, technically in Zion near the Wisconsin state line to the north) and this is just beautifully done. Chicago is without a doubt the most beautiful city in the World. I love all of your videos, but the music you chose fits in perfectly with this. I get goosebumps thinking about the Windy City and growing up there. Thank you so much!
js30blackhawks2010 7 months ago
@js30blackhawks2010 Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video. There will be more video from Chicago coming up.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
I love your music. Go to Toronto, Ontario Canada after chicago. PLEASE.
osterman9439 7 months ago
@osterman9439 Sorry, I did not go to Toronto, I shot this footage three weeks ago, been home in ATL since 7/13.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
@Freewayjim After chicago go back to Altanta for home. After that go to Toronto.
osterman9439 7 months ago
@osterman9439 Chicago-Milwaukee-Chicago-Detroit-Cleveland-Pittsburgh, West VA-Home.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
REO as a band is 44 years young (old)??? Wow...well done, great song for driving and well timed by you ;.)
0marigolds 7 months ago
@0marigolds Thank you, yeah it's scary to think that bands are "our age" yikes! Old rockers never die, they just look that way!
Freewayjim 7 months ago
Thats an awesome expressway:) very nice!
VHM072010 7 months ago
Favorited as well!
CosmoPhotography 7 months ago
The Dan Ryan is one badass mofo! It is hands down the best freeway in Chicago. I remember riding along that stretch in 2003, and the reconstruction doesn't look too entirely different than how it was before. Maybe just a tad wider? Interesting fact about where REO originated; I didn't know that. Awesome video, my man!
CosmoPhotography 7 months ago
@CosmoPhotography Thank you! I agree, I think it's the best freeway, er expressway in Chicago. I think the reconstruction added a lane to I-94 east of where I-90 comes in but nearly a $Billion seems like a lot for what was done, no new or notable structures. It's nice but not too much different from what I saw my only time there before in 2005.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
I remember driving through Chicago a while back and let me tell you. It was a pain in the ASS when I found out this thing runs North-south, when its composed as West-East. Didn't you get confused?
aijunk2 7 months ago
@aijunk2 There are some other interstates that run one way while signed another, it doesn't confuse me although I can see where you would say that.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
Didn't you say you lived in, GA? I live in Sandy Springs.
aijunk2 7 months ago
@aijunk2 I live in Metro Atlanta too :)
Freewayjim 7 months ago
Good vid, but I miss the exits you used to put in there.
fldoughboy72 7 months ago
@fldoughboy72 I purposely stopped doing that, it junked up the video and took away from the overall experience IMO, there are plenty of exit lists on the internet for that information. It was especially difficult to do on urban freeways like this where exits are frequent, sometimes there would not be enough time (at least 4 seconds) to leave each exit up. Trust me, it's for the better.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
@fldoughboy72 I do make note of major interchanges as they are important but street exits, not so much. I also figured where possible that the AUTHENTIC signs would be better than anything I typed in a colored band :)
Freewayjim 7 months ago
@fldoughboy72: I think Jim had a valid reason for stopping that practice, as he already noted down below. The only realistic way to include all the exits is to make separate signs or do what I do, which is to have different colored annotations. It's definitely a bit of a hassle.
FreewayBrent 7 months ago
are u gonna do a video on i-80????
bboybm3 7 months ago
@bboybm3 No, I did not film I-80.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
Great work on this one Jim! Excellent choice of routing at the end. Perfect timing!
eluko79 7 months ago
@eluko79 Thanks, I'm happy with how it came out.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
Is Dan Ryan really that bad? I think the baddest of Chicago is I90/I94 near the interchange with Ohio street - an infinite parking lot!
carzingan02 7 months ago
@carzingan02: That stretch can rival even the worst in Los Angeles.
FreewayBrent 7 months ago
@FreewayBrent you mean Dan Ryan or Kennedy expwy at the Ohio st?
carzingan02 7 months ago
@carzingan02: I was thinking of the Kennedy. Is there also another Ohio Street or Ave down south along the Dan Ryan?
FreewayBrent 7 months ago
Woot. MILWAUKEE! Come back in a decade when our Zoo interchange is completed!
colinstu 7 months ago
@colinstu I just might! I liked Milwaukee.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
I lived in Chicago in the late 60's 1967 to be exact thank you for the new tour of one ofm the largest cities in the USA , gotta love that 5 pm traffic in Chicago .
mutt1256 7 months ago
At the end, there was a parking lot. Otherwise, it was a smooth drive
interstateruler 7 months ago
@interstateruler Not bad considering it was 5PM on a Friday, I consider myself fortunate.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
Added to my favourites.
cadmusdixon92 7 months ago
Awesome video, I thought it would be jammed all the way to the ramp to Lake Shore Drive. How fast was it on the Dan Ryan? 65? 70?
FreewayAndrew 7 months ago
@FreewayAndrew Thanks, yeah I was at about 65 the whole way
Freewayjim 7 months ago
@Freewayjim I thought the Dan Ryan was pretty fast. Were the drivers aggressive enough?
FreewayAndrew 7 months ago
@FreewayAndrew No more than drivers in big cities on the east coast, there's just more room on this road to be aggressive :)
Freewayjim 7 months ago
@FreewayAndrew I don't think Chicago drivers ever get as aggressive as, say, Texas drivers or East Coast drivers. Seriously, I lived there for a while and all my friends from Wisconsin and Minnesota were always complaining about how rude Chicago drivers were. Seriously, whoever thinks that needs to get out of the Midwest. Almost anywhere you go in the world, they're worse drivers in one way or another.
AlvinHDavernport 7 months ago
Plain Awesome, Enough Said, Favourited.
ScrewdUPClickV2 7 months ago
@ScrewdUPClickV2 Thanks, glad you liked it!
Freewayjim 7 months ago
GREAT! Loved the way you ended this video, with that magnificent view of the Chicago skyline.
This video brought back some good memories of my time in Chicago. I did not get to see the Dan Ryan in "all its glory," as I drove it while it was under reconstruction. The final product looks great. Favorited!
FreewayBrent 7 months ago 9
@FreewayBrent I wish I could have seen it in it's original 1960's form just once but the reconstruction looks great.
Freewayjim 7 months ago
@Freewayjim: Eh, it was about as ugly, if not uglier than Janet Reno or Jerry Stackhouse.
FreewayBrent 7 months ago
I was just on this a few days ago. Except i took the Bishop Ford instead of 57.
buddybuddy0920 7 months ago
@buddybuddy0920 I-57 = Zzzzzzzz :)
Freewayjim 7 months ago
@Freewayjim The Bishop Ford ain't much better. I live near Milwaukee and I like their freeways. Did you go there?
buddybuddy0920 7 months ago
@buddybuddy0920 Yes I did, working on those videos as we speak!
Freewayjim 7 months ago
@Freewayjim Great
buddybuddy0920 7 months ago
@Freewayjim I would say it would be quite interesting going through Milwaukee on the North-South from south of the airport through to north of downtown - construction galore, though if you like what they did near the outlet mall just north of the state line.... just don't care for the current governor in WI.
viking2000rob 7 months ago
@viking2000rob Well I have some footage and am currently working on it, you'll just have to see what I come up with :) I though Milwaukee was pretty neat overall.
I don't know what politics has to do with any of this but you are certainly entitled to your opinion.
Freewayjim 7 months ago