The ride on I-355 still saves time

To steal a line from George Carlin, this morning I added highway gapers to my personal list of people I can do without.

I'm positive the people who basically parked their cars in the left lane of northbound I-355 near the 63rd Street exit this morning to watch a state trooper investigate a fender-bender were the only things keeping me from my shortest morning commute yet.

Being a New Lenox resident who bought a home there in anticipation of the new Veterans Memorial Tollway making daily commutes more manageable, this has been a good week.

On Monday morning, I made the 24.8-mile commute in less than 40 minutes, shaving at least 30 minutes off my normal commute on Route 53 between Lisle and Joliet.

A reporter's schedule has so far prevented me from experiencing an evening rush hour commute.

While quicker commutes from the south suburbs were expected to be a highlight of the 12.5-mile extension, tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis warned me that my shortened Monday drive could have been skewed by the Veterans Day holiday.

Still, this morning I was actually on pace to beat Monday's drive time until the gaper's struck. Instead, I left my garage at 8:15 a.m. and was at my desk at 8:54 a.m., actually keeping Monday's pace.

I'll let you know how tonight's rush hour goes when I get home.

In the meantime, please stay off of I-355 south of I-55 or as I like to call it, My-355.