Is Cleveland or Columbus OH closer to Chicago IL?

Answer 1

Simple answer: Cleveland is Closer to Chicago by road travel time and Interstate Highway mileage than Columbus.

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The complete answer:

This is a more difficult question to answer than one would first think.

From DOWNTOWN to DOWNTOWN IN A DIRECT LINE:

Columbus to Chicago is measured anywhere from 274 to 278 miles depending on the source (FAA, Google Maps, Live and internet Distance Calculator)

Cleveland to Chicago is measured anywhere between 299 to 311 miles depending on the source.

COLUMBUS IS CLOSER TO CHICAGO IN A DIRECT LINE

COLUMBUS IS CLOSER TO CHICAGO BY ROAD according to Google maps, Live Maps, and AAA by about Columbus is 15 road-miles closer to Chicago than Cleveland is to Chicago.

HOWEVER - It takes at least 20 minutes longer to travel from Columbus to Chicago by road than it does to travel from Cleveland to Chicago. The reason is that Interstate 80 is a near direct line from Cleveland to Chicago with a 70 MPH speed limit for most of the distance between the cities. One can travel the 345 miles in about 5½ hours or so.

To get from Columbus, OH to Chicago the fastest possible way by road, one has to travel due west to Indianapolis and then north, northwest to Chicago. The speed limit in Ohio on this stretch of load is 65MPH. Though the speed limit is 70MPH in Indiana one has to travel through the city of Indianapolis where the speed limit is 55 MPH in some spots. This means that the 360 road miles between the cities takes about 6 hours to travel

The most direct route from Columbus to Chicago by road about 330 miles, but since this is mostly by secondary highways with lower speed limits, cross streets and the occasional traffic signal, it takes about 6½ to travel.