Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks – 2026
For nearly 25 years, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has collected and processed truck GPS data in support of the U.S. Department of Transportation Freight Mobility Initiative. Utilizing an extensive database of freight truck GPS data, ATRI develops and monitors a series of key performance measures on the nation’s freight transportation system. Among its many GPS analyses, ATRI converts its truck GPS dataset into an ongoing truck bottleneck analysis that is used to quantify the impact of traffic congestion on truck-borne freight at over 325 specific locations. While other outside analyses may identify congested corridors, no dataset available today specifically identifies granular chokepoints in the nation’s truck freight transportation system.
Measuring the performance of freight movement across our nation’s highways is critical to understanding where and at what level investments should be made. The information provided through this research empowers decision-making in both the private and public sectors by helping stakeholders better understand how congestion and delays constrain mobility on the U.S. highway transportation system. ATRI’s annual bottleneck list provides a clear roadmap for reducing supply chain impediments and guiding investment decisions as Congress directs its attention to the next transportation investment reauthorization bill.
ATRI’s bottleneck analysis incorporates and synthesizes several unique components, including a massive database of truck GPS data at freight-significant locations throughout the U.S., and a speed/volume algorithm that quantifies the impact of congestion on truck-based freight. In addition, the annual reports provide a chronological repository of mobility profiles, allowing congestion changes to be assessed over time. This allows both transportation analysts and planners to conduct performance benchmarking and identify influential factors contributing to congestion and the requisite consequences on freight mobility.
Current I-290 News
New National Report Ranks I-294/I-290/I-88 Interchange as Most Congested Freight Bottleneck in the U.S.
New national data shows the interchange of Interstate 294 and Interstates 290/88 in the Chicago region is now the most congested freight interchange in the United States, underscoring the urgent need to advance the I-290 Blue Line Reconstruction Project. This project is widely considered the most important transportation project in Illinois.
Chicago’s I-294 interchange takes over as nation’s worst freight bottleneck
The interchange of Interstate 294 and Interstates 290/88 in Chicago has dethroned the George Washington Bridge interchange of I-95 at SR 4 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, as the most congested freight bottleneck in the U.S., according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual Top Truck Bottleneck List.
Granite wins IDOT’s first-ever CM/GC contract for$350 million I-290 drainage project
Granite Construction has been selected by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)for a construction manager/general contractor contract to for the I-290 drainageimprovements project in Chicago — IDOT’s first-ever CM/GC project.
Granite to build $350 million I-290 drainage, sewer upgrade inChicago
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has selected Granite for its first ConstructionManager/General Contractor (CM/GC) contract, advancing a $350 million stormwater and drainage improvementproject along the I-290 corridor in Chicago.