CHICAGO — Congratulations, Chicago. You're home to the fifth-worst traffic "hotspot" in the nation.
A study released Wednesday by INRIX Research found that the stretch of the westbound Dan Ryan and Kennedy expressways from 47th Street to Harlem Avenue is the worst in the city, and fifth worst in the nation overall.
The study analyzed traffic trends this March and April, logging 238 traffic jams during that period. During that time, the study found that it took 79 minutes to travel that stretch at a paltry 8.55 miles per hour.
The study claims all that waiting will cost $1.3 billion in productivity come 2026.
The second worst hot spot in Chicago goes in the other direction on the Kennedy. An average traffic jam on the eastbound Kennedy from I-294 to Ohio Street takes 48 minutes to get through.
Chicago ranks sixth worst on traffic compared with other cities in the study. Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Dallas all rank worse.
Still, based on 40,000 traffic jams in Chicago during a two-month period, idling cars will take $28.2 biilion out of the economy, the study found.
