DCS 2016 Carpool Thread - WI/MN/IL Owners Unite!

[Mark D]

Any fellow Wisconsin / Minnesota / Illinois owners want to try and meet up and carpool down to Springfield?

My tentative plan will be to depart from Stevens Point, WI on Thursday the 21st to make it down to DCS for the 6PM dinner. If anyone else has similar plans driving near my route I'd be willing to take slight detours to meet up with other owners so we could drive down in a group.

Alternatively, I may be departing from the Appleton / Fox cities area if I decide to work a half day that morning.

Possible locations on my route to meet up with other owners include:

Wisconsin Dells, WI
Madison, WI
Appleton, WI
Oshkosh, WI
Fond Du Lac WI
Milwaukee, WI
Janesville, WI
Beloit, WI
Rockford, IL
Bloomington, IL

My route may also converge with those leaving from the Twin Cities area, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Wausau, Green Bay, most of northern WI, and the UP. Map of my planned route is below in blue with alternate route in grey.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=43546&d=1465326532

If you would like to meet up near or along this route please voice your interest here.

[Rich W]

<snip> My tentative plan will be to depart from Stevens Point, WI on Thursday the 21st to make it down to DCS for the 6PM dinner. <snip>

For those of you planning to arrive "just in time" for some DCS Events, please refer to the DCS Events Schedule
to make sure you arrive in advance of the deadlines for picking up registration and for parking your DeLorean.

For example, if you plan to arrive on Thursday afternoon in time to attend the dinner, please note Registration and
badge pickup is open from 8am to 11am then 1pm to 4pm on Thursday. You will need your badge to attend dinner
and Registration with badge pickup is only open until 4pm. If you are driving your DeLorean and you want to park
indoors at the PCCC, you need to be in the staging line on East Washington Street no later than 5pm. Entry door is
only open for a few minutes (at the top of each hour, listed on the schedule) to help keep the air conditioned air in.
Any late arrivals will need to park in the parking garage (charge) or on the street, if you can find a parking space.

As for the caravan (and carpool?) idea, this is a great way to travel to and from DCS and see DeLoreans on the way.

[Rich W]

Note regarding one of the alternate (gray) routes listed on Mark's map above.

I would highly recommend NOT using the I-90 alternate route (Rockford to Chicago), to get to I-55.

I-90 (Tollway) is under re-construction, with potential long delays, with or without lane closures.
New overpasses being constructed can also cause "all lane shutdowns" at night (to place beams),
so there really is not any good time to take I-90 this Summer (maybe not until later this Fall).

[Mark D]

Note regarding one of the alternate (gray) routes listed on Mark's map above.

I would highly recommend NOT using the I-90 alternate route (Rockford to Chicago), to get to I-55.

I-90 (Tollway) is under re-construction, with potential long delays, with or without lane closures.
New overpasses being constructed can also cause "all lane shutdowns" at night (to place beams),
so there really is not any good time to take I-90 this Summer (maybe not until later this Fall).

Great info to know, thanks for the advance warning. I'm hoping that I don't have to divert that close to Chicago if possible anyway...Staying closer to the I39 path would be ideal (at least for me). If there are any Chicago area people wanting to join the convoy I'm hoping there's somewhere in the middle of the two main paths that we could meet. It'll all depend on who shows interest and where they're coming from.

[DavidProehl]

I am definitely interested in caravanning to DCS, however I was planning to leave Wednesday so I could be there all day Thursday. If others are driving on Wednesday I'm able to caravan!

[Mark D]

For those of you planning to arrive "just in time" for some DCS Events, please refer to the DCS Events Schedule
to make sure you arrive in advance of the deadlines for picking up registration and for parking your DeLorean.

For example, if you plan to arrive on Thursday afternoon in time to attend the dinner, please note Registration and
badge pickup is open from 8am to 11am then 1pm to 4pm on Thursday. You will need your badge to attend dinner
and Registration with badge pickup is only open until 4pm. If you are driving your DeLorean and you want to park
indoors at the PCCC, you need to be in the staging line on East Washington Street no later than 5pm. Entry door is
only open for a few minutes (at the top of each hour, listed on the schedule) to help keep the air conditioned air in.
Any late arrivals will need to park in the parking garage (charge) or on the street, if you can find a parking space.

As for the caravan (and carpool?) idea, this is a great way to travel to and from DCS and see DeLoreans on the way.

Thanks again Rich for the very helpful info! Keeping these times in mind will definitely play a role in figuring out a caravan / carpool plan.

[DMC5180]

Mark,

Normally I would join you as it is an easy meet up for me. I will, however, be going down Tuesday or Wednesday. I would like to inform all who are traveling l-39 in IL. I just took the D to Bloomington over the weekend. Generally speaking the road is okay, but there are some nasty random bad sections in the RH lane with sub par repairs. I would suggest favoring the left lane if you have open road and no body running up your butt. Also there is one very bad pothole on the single lane on ramp overpass Southbound that crosses over US 20 south of Rockford. I unfortunately hit it with the left front wheel. I was seriously expecting the LCA to fail from the impact. I'm hoping it didn't bend the rim.


Dennis

[dodint]

It's a shame, too. With the budget the way it is they're not designating money for secondary road repair anytime soon. Interstates only. So if counties and municipalities don't repair your local road, don't expect the state to get on it. Bad for D's and motorcycle entusiasts like myself.

[DMC5180]

I-39 was constructed in the late 70s & early 80s in IL. It's still the original concrete in 95% of that 120 mi stretch. Concrete roadways are generally estimated to have 30-40 year life span before it needs major rehabilitation. Traffic and regional climate influences the lifespan greatly. In contrast asphalt has an average 7 year life span before starts to need repair work.


Dennis

[gulwng3]

FYI... Illinois State law prohibits driving in the passing lane unless you are actually passing someone. With that said, I have never ever saw a cop on I-39...

Illinois State law also states we should have a balanced budget each year, but that's more of a guideline rather than a rule.

Safe travel,
Andy

[DMC5180]

Yes , I am aware of the left lane law in IL. I rarely see state patrol on I-39. But when I have it was always near the 115-119 mi markers or near the Lincoln memorial bridge. There is a state patrol headquarters in the LeSalle / Peru area.


Dennis

[DMCMW Dave]

I drove the same route as Dennis last weekend (same event!) and I hit the same pothole! I was expecting to find a bent rim. There are a couple of bridges with some oddball "bumps" as you enter/exit (that's how they are labeled) that also pretty much bottomed out my car. (Not a DMC.)

BTW I pretty much habitually drive in the left lane most of the time (well - I'm usually passing so that qualifies) and have never had an issue, and agree with Dennis that we didn't see any patrols on I-39. Average speed was probably about 80.

[Peripatetic]

I'll most likely be using the I-55. I'm from the general area as DMCMW and a 3 second glance says this is the fastest route. My plan was just to open Waze and blindly obey (http://geekologie.com/2016/05/woman-drives-into-lake-because-gps-told.php).

But now I see I have to arrive sooner than planned to pick up my badge. I was hoping to work a half day, but I may take the whole day off if it means I can be a part of a convoy.

[Peripatetic]

I didn't think I was THAT unpopular

[Josh]

Hey guys,

Definitely interested in meeting up with the convoy. My plans right now have me passing through Minneapolis around noon on the Wednesday. But my route and time can be tweaked if we have a plan.

[DavidProehl]

Hey guys,

Definitely interested in meeting up with the convoy. My plans right now have me passing through Minneapolis around noon on the Wednesday. But my route and time can be tweaked if we have a plan.

Cool! So who else is leaving Wednesday? As far as I know it is me, Nick, and Jim

[Alan]

Colleen and I are heading out Monday and making a week of it.

[StanMan PushN 88]

I'm heading up to Springfield on July 21...that's Thursday morning after Saint Louis traffic dies down a bit, so probably hitting I-255 (South County Saint Louis) and over into Illinois near Columbia, IL around 9 a.m. and leisurely enjoy following the road to Springfield! Anyone coming up from Oklahoma/Texas/Missouri/Kentucky/Southern Illinois that morning?

Stan

[Josh]

Cool! So who else is leaving Wednesday? As far as I know it is me, Nick, and Jim

let me know were and when we could meet up and ill be there!

[DavidProehl]

Mark - Just listened to the DeLorean Talk podcast you were on and heard you talking about this thread. Sorry it didn't work out to drive out together. Jim, Nick, Josh, and I are leaving tomorrow morning. If your plans have or can change we can still meet you tomorrow.

[Mark D]

Thanks David, that's awesome you listened to the podcast and I hope you enjoyed it.

No worries that our schedules didn't line up. We're all going to the same place eventually. ;)
I was the odd man out with my plans to leave Thursday. There aren't a whole lot of people coming from my area so I figured it might be a long shot that someone else might be heading down the same day/time I was.

I created the thread also hoping other people who weren't on my same schedule could find each other and set up their own plans. It sounds like in that regard it was successful.

[DMC5180]

For everyone going south on I-39 south of Rockford, the southbound exit ramp is closed, the detour takes you under the ramp overpass, if you look left at the deck supporting structure you will see why it's closed. It's the perfect example of crumbling infrastructure.

Anyway, the detour takes you 2.5 miles beyond that point on US 20 west. You will be directed to exit US 20 at US251 southbound go under US 20 and then get right back on US 20 eastbound heading back to the I-39 southbound exit from US 20 east. Additionally there are a few long stretches of road construction between Rockford and Bloomington. There are still areas of rough right lane. I watched a semi swerve into the left to avoid one of those spots yesterday. I've never seen a truck make move like that before. Very abrupt.

Safe travels everyone.


Dennis

[Alan]

Thanks for the info. It was knowing about the detour before we hit it.