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Trip from Wheaton, IL to Downers Grove, IL

Compiled and reviewed by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy · Last reviewed Apr 17, 2026 · Editorial standards

Drive Time

19m

Distance

9 mi

14 km

Drive Score

6/10

Good drive

Same Day?

Yes, doable

Fuel Cost

$1

one way

EV Charging

Unknown

Best Time to Leave

4 AM
0h 18m ★
6 AM
0h 19m
8 AM
0h 23m
10 AM
0h 21m
12 PM
0h 20m
3 PM
0h 21m
5 PM
0h 23m
8 PM
0h 18m ★

Estimated drive times based on typical traffic patterns. Actual times may vary with weather, construction, and real-time conditions.

Best Time Drive vs Fly
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city and county seat of DuPage County, Illinois, United States

Wheaton, IL

Wikimedia Commons

village in Downers Grove, Lisle, and York Townships, DuPage County, Illinois, United States

Downers Grove, IL

Wikimedia Commons

Trip Overview

The drive from Wheaton, IL to Downers Grove, IL covers 9 miles and takes about 19m behind the wheel. This route is realistic as a one-day drive if you keep your stops efficient.

The route leans on East Roosevelt Road, Highland Avenue, Veterans Memorial Tollway for much of the mileage, and the overall profile is turn-heavy local drive. The longest uninterrupted segment is about 3.2 miles on East Roosevelt Road. At current regular gas prices, budget about $1.41 one way before food or hotel costs.

Who Is This Route For?

Weekend Trip

Doable as a same-day drive at 19m. Total distance: 9 miles.

Family Friendly

Moderate complexity with 0 natural rest stops along the way.

Solo Traveler

19m drive, comfortable solo distance.

EV Driver

0 DC fast chargers along the route. Coverage: unknown.

Scenic Drive

Turn-heavy local drive route profile with national parks nearby.

Drive Character

Expect a 19m drive with frequent turns across 9 miles of local and secondary roads.

This route has more turning and local-road decision points than a simple highway run.
There are about 15 navigation steps in the underlying route data, so the final approach matters more than the middle miles.
East Roosevelt Road is the longest continuous segment at about 3.2 miles.

Elevation Profile

Mostly flat terrain

773 ft 703 ft

Total Climb

141 ft

Total Descent

149 ft

Highest Point

773 ft

~1.3 mi in

Elevation Range

70 ft

How Hard Is This Drive?

Expect a hands-on drive with frequent turns and local roads rather than long highway stretches. This route has several spots where lane changes, forks, or exits need your full attention. The trickiest moment comes around 0.2 miles in near West Front Street.

Driving Effort 8/10

Focused - busy navigation packed into a short drive

Balances navigation complexity with total wheel time.

This is a short but busy drive. With 11 decision points packed into just 9 miles, you will need to pay attention to lane changes and exits — but the whole thing is over in 19m.

Where does it get tricky?

The main spots that need attention: at 0.2 miles (West Front Street): Lane positioning matters here; at 0.4 miles (South Main Street): Lane positioning matters here; at 5.5 miles: Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one.

Critical Maneuvers

5 of 11 key points

These are the spots where you need to pay the most attention. Preview them before you drive.

7
0.2 mi into trip | ~0m in | West Front Street

Turn left onto West Front Street

Lane positioning matters here

Use the straight lane.
6
0.4 mi into trip | ~1m in | South Main Street

Turn right onto South Main Street

Lane positioning matters here

Use the straight / right lanes.
8
5.5 mi into trip | ~11m in

Take the exit toward IL 56, I 88 Toll: Chicago, Aurora, Butterfield Road

Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one

Use the straight / slight right lanes. Exit 20-22 Toward IL 56, I 88 Toll: Chicago, Aurora, Butte...
8
5.8 mi into trip | ~12m in

Keep slight right at fork toward IL 56: Butterfield Road

Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here

Use the straight / slight right lanes. Exit 22 Toward IL 56: Butterfield Road
7
7.1 mi into trip | ~15m in

Keep slight right at fork

Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here

Use the right lane.

Towns Mentioned on Route Signs

Based on OSRM destination-sign hints, not a full list of every settlement the road passes.

On the drive from Wheaton, IL to Downers Grove, IL, road signs begin pointing toward Aurora along the way.

Aurora

5.5 mi in | ~11m

Main Roads

Road Distance Duration
East Roosevelt Road 3.2 mi 6m
Highland Avenue 1.3 mi 2m
Veterans Memorial Tollway 0.9 mi 1m
Butterfield Road 0.8 mi 1m
Main Street 0.5 mi 1m
South Main Street 0.4 mi 1m
West Front Street 0.2 mi <1m
West Wesley Street 0.1 mi <1m
Longest stretch: East Roosevelt Road — 3.2 mi, about 6m

Turn-by-Turn Driving Directions

Step-by-step road directions between Wheaton, IL and Downers Grove, IL.

1

Start on West Wesley Street

0.1 mi · 23 sec · West Wesley Street
2

Turn left onto North Wheaton Avenue

467 ft · 28 sec · North Wheaton Avenue
3

Turn left onto West Front Street

0.2 mi · 30 sec · West Front Street
Use the straight lane.
4

Turn right onto South Main Street

0.4 mi · 1 min · South Main Street
Use the straight / right lanes.
5

Turn left onto IL 38

3.2 mi · 6 min · East Roosevelt Road
Use the left lane.
6

Take the ramp

0.5 mi · 1 min
Toward I 355 South: Joliet
7

Merge onto I 355

0.9 mi · 1 min · Veterans Memorial Tollway
8

Take the exit

0.3 mi · 41 sec
Exit 20-22 Toward IL 56, I 88 Toll: Chicago, Aurora, Butterfield Road Use the straight / slight right lanes.
9

Keep slight right at fork

0.3 mi · 43 sec
Exit 22 Toward IL 56: Butterfield Road Use the straight / slight right lanes.
10

Turn straight onto IL 56

0.8 mi · 1 min · Butterfield Road
Use the left lane.
11

Turn slight right

0.2 mi · 38 sec
Use the right lane.
12

Keep slight right at fork

171 ft · 8 sec
Use the right lane.
13

Turn slight right onto Highland Avenue

1.3 mi · 2 min · Highland Avenue
14

Continue on Main Street

0.5 mi · 1 min · Main Street
15

Arrive at destination

Main Street

Fuel & Cost

Regular Gas

$1.41 one way

$2.81 round trip

$3.97/gal 25.4 MPG avg 3 kg CO2
Fuel Type $/gal One Way Round Trip
midgrade $4.36 $1.54 $3.09
premium $4.89 $1.73 $3.46
diesel $5.61 $1.99 $3.97

Estimated Tolls: $0.07

Veterans Memorial Tollway (0.9 mi) $0.07

Toll estimates based on average 2024-2025 rates. EZ-Pass/SunPass discounts may lower the actual cost.

Drive Cost (one way)

Fuel

$1

Tolls

$0

Total

$1

Estimated CO2 emission: 3.1 kg one way. Prices: EIA weekly data, 2026-04-13.

Driving Electric?

About $1 in charging · 0 stops · 67% less CO2

Vehicle Type kWh Stops DC Fast Home Charge
Average EV 2.7 0 $0.94 $0.43
Efficient EV 2.3 0 $0.79 $0.36
EV Truck/SUV 3.6 0 $1.26 $0.58

Gas CO2

3 kg

EV CO2

1 kg (67% less)

This trip is well within single-charge range for most EVs. No charging stops needed if you start fully charged.

DC fast charging avg $0.35/kWh. Home charging avg $0.16/kWh. US grid CO2: 0.39 kg/kWh.

Travel Intel

Current conditions at both ends of the drive.

Forecast as of Apr 13, 2026

Origin

Wheaton, IL

Morning in Wheaton on Friday

Local time

8:22 AM

CDT

Current temp

77°F

Mostly Cloudy then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms

SSW 10 to 15 mph 39% chance Live forecast

Flood Warning

Flood Warning issued April 12 at 9:52PM CDT until April 17 at 7:00AM CDT by NWS Quad Cities IA IL

Flood Warning

Flood Warning issued April 12 at 9:52PM CDT until April 17 at 7:00PM CDT by NWS Quad Cities IA IL

Destination

Downers Grove, IL

Morning in Downers Grove on Friday

Local time

8:22 AM

CDT

Current temp

52°F

Unavailable

Live forecast

Time zone

Same local time

Origin and destination are on the same clock, so arrival timing is easier to judge at a glance.

Temperature spread

25 degrees cooler at arrival

A meaningful temperature swing is a good cue to rethink layers, water, and how soon you want to arrive.

Road read

19m on the road

The weather snapshot is not static. If you are leaving later, give both cities one more quick forecast check before departure.

Weather data from the National Weather Service. Conditions may change; check closer to your travel date.

Frequently Asked Questions

The drive from Wheaton, IL to Downers Grove, IL covers 9 miles and takes about 19m without stops. Add 15-30 minutes for a fuel or rest stop on longer drives.

The main roads are East Roosevelt Road, Highland Avenue, Veterans Memorial Tollway. Expect a mix of highway and local road driving.

This is a comfortable same-day trip.

The midpoint is about 4.5 miles from Wheaton, IL. Look for rest areas, gas stations, or food options near the halfway mark.

At current regular gas prices, expect to spend about $1.41 one way. This estimate uses 25.4 MPG — your actual cost will vary with your vehicle's fuel efficiency and current gas prices.

Leave by 9 AM and you'll arrive before lunch. Even a 4 PM departure gets you there before dark in summer.

This is a short but busy drive. With 11 decision points packed into just 9 miles, you will need to pay attention to lane changes and exits — but the whole thing is over in 19m.

The main spots that need attention: at 0.2 miles (West Front Street): Lane positioning matters here; at 0.4 miles (South Main Street): Lane positioning matters here; at 5.5 miles: Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one.

On the drive from Wheaton, IL to Downers Grove, IL, road signs begin pointing toward Aurora along the way.

Mostly flat terrain. The route ranges from 703 ft to 773 ft elevation with about 141 ft of total climbing.

Yes. Nearby national parks include Pullman National Historical Park.

How this page is built

Compiled and maintained by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy (Helsinki). Each route is built from authoritative open government and mapping datasets rather than crowdsourced reviews. Distances and geometry come from OSRM over OpenStreetMap. Fuel cost uses EIA weekly regional averages. Elevation is sampled from USGS 3DEP. National park proximity is from the NPS API. Pages are published only after passing our data-quality checks; our methodology page documents refresh cadence, editorial standards, and known limitations.

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