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More Than 3.3M Travelers Expected at O’Hare, Midway During Spring Break Travel Season
Passengers walk through Chicago O’Hare International Airport in a file photo. (tupungato / iStock)
With spring break already underway for some students, Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports are gearing up for what is expected to be a busy spring break travel season through the end of this month.
More than 3.36 million travelers are projected to pass through the airports between Thursday and March 31, a 4% increase from the same period last year, the Chicago Department of Aviation said in a news release.
Friday is expected to be O’Hare’s busiest day, with more than 279,000 passengers projected, according to the department, while Midway’s peak travel day is anticipated on Saturday, March 29, with more than 56,000 passengers.
The historically busy travel period includes the spring break vacation window for students in Chicago Public Schools, whose spring break lands March 24-28.
The city’s aviation department is also telling drivers to expect significant delays when traveling to O’Hare on the I-90 Kennedy Expressway due to construction on outbound lanes.
Travel time from downtown Chicago to O’Hare could range from one to two hours, according to the department.
Due to construction, drivers going from downtown to O’Hare should stay on the local Kennedy lanes instead of taking the express lanes because drivers won’t be able to exit until the I-94 Edens Expressway at Foster Avenue, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The aviation department is recommending travelers take public transit to get to the airport — including the CTA’s Blue Line to O’Hare and Orange Line to Midway — in order to reduce traffic congestion. Using cellphone lots and “Kiss n’ Fly” drop-offs can help reduce congestion in the terminals, according to the department.
Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]
