Anyone have an opinion on the best way to get from Lafayette, Indiana to Cleveland, OH?
As I see it, I have two basic options.
Option #1 – Take US 24 the “Hoosier Heartland Highway” to Fort Wayne, get to Toledo (presumably by going north to I-80/90, then heading southeast to Toledo) and then 80/90 to Cleveland. This route is shorter, but the roads are inferior. US 24 isn’t bad, but it’s not as good as an Interstate. All the options from Fort Wayne to Toledo are bad — either go the route described or find a secondary route to cut the corner.
Option #2 – Take I-65 southeast to Indy; I-70 east to Columbus; and I-71 northeast to Cleveland. This route is about 50 miles longer but is Interstate the whole way. However, Columbus traffic, in particular can be dicey.
I’ll have my 3 year old son in the car with me. He’s generally a good traveler, but this is going to be a long trip for him no matter what. So, I want to try to get a fast route, but I also want one that isn’t stop & go at the wrong place so that if he decides to go to sleep, he’ll stay asleep as
long as possible.
I suggest you take US 24 all the way to Toledo.
I went from Ft. Wayne to Toledo this way in April and found it much better than a few years ago. You do stand a chance of getting behind a string of trucks but they must have added some truck lanes because I was able to cruise about 65 all the way. You mention some time ago that you thought this section should be an Interstate. I agree. Connecting I-69 at Ft. Wayne and to I-75 would be a good way to circumvent the toll road but I don’t know if the lease agreement permits it or not.
I have Microsofts Streets and Trips and it says your trip should be about 320 miles and take 5hrs and 45 minutes
With kids I’d stick to Interstates as much as possible, because of the built-in rest stops. I often have taken route 30 out of Ft Wayne It’s mostly 4-lane over to Mansfield, and moves VERY well, and connects with I-71. But there is considerable semi traffic on 30.You may know someone locally in Ft Wayne the best way to get from highway 24 to 30,Of course you can take the I-469 by-pass around Ft Wayne,but there must be a better way the locals take .Im always going to Chicago when I take the Ft Wayne bypass. Otherwise take I-69 to the tollway…
Agree with Lou. Rest stops are not only great for bathrooms, but letting the kiddos run in the grassy areas (avoiding the dog bombs) can be helpful before naptime.
As an alternative to driving through Fort Wayne on US24, you could probably get most of the way to the Indiana Toll Road on I-69 from US 24. If you are coming to Fort Wayne on US24 though and want to stick with it to Toledo though I would suggest leaving 24 in Roanoke, heading eastbound on the roads indicating the route to Fort Wayne’s airport, and then picking up I-469 around the south side of the city to pick up US 24 again. You will hit a lot of lights once you cross the Allen County line and before you reach the interstate and bypass around the city.
Another thought- Indiana 26 straight east from Lafayette to I-69, then around the southside of Fort Wayne on I-469 to pick US 24 east bound.
Option #1. I go to Cle six times/year, as both my extended family and my wife’s extended families are there.
Just drove I-70 from Indy to Columbus, then I-71 to Cle, this week. There were plenty of areas of construction, but missing rush hours, it all moved smoothly enough. It’s just painfully boring… and that extra 50 miles = extra 45 minutes without a stop, and an extra 1:15 with it.
Doug: Construction zones on the Interstates (built for 1950s traffic can go well one day and the next you can lose an hour easy.
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/con2006/central_06.htm
The link gives you the Ohio construction areas.
As Mike Kole says,there are many. But some are minor.
As Mark says Indiana 26 is a good option. I have used this a few times when visiting all of the Indiana counties, and more recently when visiting the townships. Indiana SR 26 to I -69 and then either 24 to 80/90 is good. Or 26, I-69,to Indiana SR 18. From there you take a straight shot to Wapakoneta, OH where you pick up I-75. You get to change numbers a lot while never turning off the road. 18 becomes 67 and then crosses into Ohio to become Ohio SR 29 and then U.S. 33 joins you and 29 turns off (stay on 33). About 12 or 13 miles into Ohio you hit Celina and then you have 4 lane to I-75. At Findlay you have a choice stay on I-75 to the Turnpike (Findlay-Fremont is 66 miles) or trim about 24 miles by cutting Ohio 12 to 53 entering the Turnpike at Fremont Exit 91 (Findlay-Fremont 42 miles)The drawback, driving through part of Findlay and 2 lane roads. The bonus, it is over 1/3 shorter. The leg from East of Marion to Wapakoneta sounds confusing, but when you look at a map, you can see it is very direct.
When it comes to 2 lane, State Routes can be better than U.S. Routes (like 6 or 24) because they are usually built to the same standards, but often don’t pass through any significant population centers, therefore you get a lot less traffic.
5 or more years from now the Indiana 18 to I-75 route gets more attractive because your son would be old enough to enjoy that Neil Armstrong museum in Wapakoneta.
Try this:
25/24 to Fort Wayne (the 24 part is pretty good). Then at 24/I-69 take I-69 North to 469, then 469 around to Hwy 37 (there are a bunch of exits along the 69/469 route with potties and lots of restaurants/retail).
Take 37 northeast to Hicksville (the hwy number changes in Ohio but it’s the same road)- at Hicksville take 18 east to Defiance, then you get back on 24.
This has two advantages: 1) fewer trucks than 24 east of Fort Wayne (a former State Senator referred to 24 East as “the highway of death”), and 2) depending on weather and time of day, it is less likely to be foggy (24 can be VERY foggy due to its proximity to the river).
24 east of Defiance is okay.
Happy Trails.
Thanks everybody. I’ll probably have to make my final decision to see how his nap goes. If he falls asleep before Fort Wayne, I’ll want to stick with the Interstate and probably take I-69 all the way up. If he’s still awake, I’ll take a shorter, albeit “choppier” route.
No matter what you do, DO NOT be tempted to take Hwy 6 across. You’ll see it on the map, and you’ll be tempted. But it’s like meth or crack (or US 30 west of Merrillville) – it may seem harmless enough and perhaps even a good idea at the time, but you will spend a long time regretting the decision.
See, that’s funny because I’ve made *both* mistakes. I’ve spent time stopping and going on US 6 around the Indiana/Ohio border and mostly just stopping on US 30 on the Indiana/Illinois border.
(If I had to pick between the two, I’d take that stretch of US 6 over that stretch of US 30).
If you pass through Fort Wayne wave, and set your clock back to match mine!
If you’re open to another means of travel check out the Amtrack ‘Lake Shore Limited’ route:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Horizontal_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081256321961&ssid=133
I think you can catch it out of Lafayette, it’s good value for the money and I’ll bet your boy just might enjoy the adventure!
Happy trails….
Thanks to everybody. I ended up taking Karen’s route — 25/24 to Fort Wayne, I-69 & 469 around, then 37 north to 18 east to US 24. Not great, but not too bad. I think that’s pretty much to be expected from Fort Wayne to Toledo.
Boy, I just wouldn’t recommend U.S. 24 east to Toledo via State Road 37.
I have been at too many accidents.
Glad you and your son made it. You will have seen some pretty countryside. However, I hope you will take the Toll Road or US 30 back. (Even after the South Bend Tribune stories regarding the Toll Road safety record).
You can read my thoughts on the safety of US 24 at Fort Wayne Observed: http://indiana.typepad.com/fwob/2006/03/whatever_else_m.html
On the way back, I took I-71 to Columbus, I-70 to Indy, and I-65 up to Lafayette. A lot more miles, but it ended up being about 45 minutes faster. Some of that can be attributed to driving on a Sunday morning on the way back versus driving on a Thursday afternoon on the way there, but there was a definite time savings with the southern route.
Just looking back at Kay’s post on the train – reminds me of taking my 8-year-old nephew to Chicago years ago to see the Cubs play….we went to the Michael Jordan restaurant….it was bat day at Wrigley…went to the Aquarium…. and you know what his two favorite things were? Riding in a cab and riding the El. And although his aunt is an infrastructure geek, this kid isn’t. So, Doug, you might think about a wild weekend of alternative transportation some time to entertain the little ones.
I definitely intend to take the boy by train from Lafayette to Chicago to see a friend of mine and his daughter. (My daughter is a little young to enjoy that kind of thing yet.)
Doug – have you considered Amtrak? You could take the train from Lafayette up to Chicago, and then a separate train to Cleveland. Don’t know what hour Amtrak arrives in Cleveland…
and sometimes Amtrak doesn’t run on time.
I think their website is amtrak.com
–Ken “railroad nut” Weller……….
Let me put a plug in for traveling Route 30 from Ft Wayne eastbound.I drive a good deal and Ive found route 30 fast and unobstructed,4 -lane ,except for just a small stretch, and Ohio has been making it just short of an expressway over many years to now.There are even rest stops on the other side of Upper Sandusky, It connects well with Interstates to Cleveland and all points east. That makes it a favorite for longhaul truckers,but no worse than any interstate.By the way if you want to avoid trucks to some degree travel every Saturday/saturday night you can.Trucks can’t dock Sunday morning in many places so many don’t travel Saturday unless they have 2 days drive ahead.