Metra Electric - Best Parking for the Science Museum

Heading to the Museum of Science tomorrow and need some logistics planning help.

Driving in in the morning from South Bend and staying in Oak Brook.

We don%26#39;t need to check into our hotel right away because it would end up costing us a couple hours delay.

My thoughts are going straight to one of the Metra Electric line stops that are on the way to Oak Brook, parking there and taking the train to the Museum.

My logic is we can beat some traffic, and parking vs train tickets would be a wash.

1) Does this make sense? Figure we would be leaving South Bend by 7:30 AM, and that getting into the city would be a pain in the rear compared to the train.

2) What station should we park at?

Saturday we will be taking the BNSF in from Oak Brook and hitting the downtown attractions.

Thanks!

Metra Electric - Best Parking for the Science Museum

If you%26#39;re driving in from South Bend, drive direct to the MSI. The Metra Electric train line does not run near Oakbrook. Oakbrook is west of downtown. The MSI is south of downtown.

Metra Electric - Best Parking for the Science Museum

Looking at this further...

The Hazel Crest stop is just off of I80, and has easy access back onto I80 when we get done.

Is this a safe place to park?

Thanks again...

During the day, parking in Hazelcrest will be fine. Again, I don%26#39;t understand why you want to take the train to/from Hazelcrest when you want to end up in Oakbrook at the end of the day. You%26#39;ll spend more on train tickets than the cost of parking at the MSI. Plus you won%26#39;t be tied down to the Metra schedule.

Parking is going to be $16 plus I was worried about traffic... so train tickets will be a wash.

Will traffic be an issue at 9:30 AM?

What about coming back from MSI to Oak Brook around 5:00?

I agree with Dave. Absent some unexpected problem, you should be fine driving in. Driving out to Oak Brook at rush hour on a Friday will be another story, but I still think it is better than driving to Hazelcrest, taking the train, taking the train back, then going to Oak Brook. That could well take the same amount of time as driving to Oak Brook directly.

Add me to the list of people who think that this doesn%26#39;t make a lot of sense. I don%26#39;t think that you would really be avoiding any traffic, since you would still have to drive from Hazelcrest to Oakbrook. This Friday%26#39;s rush hour will probably be a bit more sedate than usual anyway, since it is a holiday.

I%26#39;d drive straight to the MSI if you are coming from South Bend, if you look for directions on Mapquest it tells you the exact way I%26#39;d suggest, the Indiana toll Road to the Stony Island exit. You shouldn%26#39;t encounter much traffic on the Toll Road.

If you have an electronic toll pass (EZ Pass, IPass or I Zoom), you can use it on the toll roads in both Indiana and Illinois, look for the special lanes.

I must agree with the others, doing the backtrack will eat up too much of your time. Stop at the museum, and think about heading out around 3 or 3:30 to oakbrook, or stay til closing and eat in the Hyde Park neighborhood, then leave for the suburbs around 6 or 6:30.