Locked out of your car in Oak Creek? We're back in — no damage.

Roads & corridors we run in Oak Creek

The North-South Freeway — I-94 and I-41 running together — is the spine of Oak Creek, and no corridor in the city generates more breakdown calls. Chicago- and Milwaukee-bound commuter traffic stacks up northbound toward the airport and the Mitchell Interchange in the 7–9 AM and 4–6 PM windows, and the freeway exits (numbered 320 through 324) are the usual disabled-vehicle spots. Off the freeway, the busiest junctions are the uncontrolled crossings along the South Howell Avenue (WIS-38) ladder — at Ryan, Oakwood, Puetz, Rawson and Drexel — plus South 27th Street (WIS-241) at College and Elm, and the signals at 13th & Rawson and Ryan & Nicholson. Drexel Town Square, the Ryan Road (WIS-100) and 27th Street retail strips, and the Pilot and Love's travel stops off the freeway keep a steady local and truck hum.

Oak Creek conditions we plan for

Oak Creek splits into two weather zones. Along the Lake Michigan shore — Bender Park, Lake Vista Park and the power-plant frontage — the lake feeds dense fog and lake-effect snow; move inland to the I-94 / I-41 corridor and open fields take over, leaving the pavement exposed to blowing and drifting snow. Underneath it all is a humid continental climate: snowy, cold winters and muggy, warm summers, with the freeze-thaw swings that crack pavement and strand batteries.

• Blowing and drifting snow across the open North-South Freeway and Ryan Road (WIS-100) corridor
• Dense lake fog along the Lake Michigan shore — Bender Park, Lake Vista Park and the power-plant frontage
• Freeze-thaw potholes and blowouts on the truck-worn Rawson Avenue, Howell Avenue and 27th Street pavement
• Summer thunderstorms and rush-hour pile-ups on I-94 north toward the Mitchell Interchange