Add years of construction to an already congested Chicago highway and this is what it adds up to:

The analysis showed exactly how much the roadwork wreaked havoc with Kennedy commute times. Often, the kind of congestion you normally would expect only during rush hour was seen from early in the morning right on through evening.

In the nearly two decades prior to the start of the Kennedy rehab project, 4 p.m. was the peak hour for outbound traffic on weekday afternoons, averaging roughly 39 minutes. And 8 a.m. was historically the peak hour for inbound traffic on weekday mornings, averaging about 46 minutes.

Compare that to the traffic times on the Kennedy in June 2025, when outbound drivers faced an average drive of more than 50 minutes for every hour from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays. In effect, drivers faced a rush hour that lasted all day long.

Traffic patterns were already trending this way in many places. More drivers on the road at different times of days has scrambled some traffic patterns, extending or moving times of day with heavier congestion.

Add construction projects that last for years and rush hour lasted from 7 AM to 8 PM. For those who suggested that employers could shift work times to help employees avoid typical rush houses, this does not help. How many people can leave the house before 7 AM or head home after 8 PM? How often do mass transit schedules help out at these earlier and later times?

Would a thorough report like this be enough to help move people and policies toward less driving? Imagine a commuter living northwest of the Loop – from the city out to Elgin and McHenry – who can have multiple good options for traveling along this corridor.