LOS ANGELES (KNX) - If you’re planning on traveling for Memorial Day, look out for the roughly 37 million other drivers hitting the highways nationwide.
Friday is expected to be the busiest day on the roads nationwide for the holiday weekend, according to Doug Shupe, a spokesperson for AAA. This weekend is also expected to be the third-busiest Memorial Day travel period since the auto club began tracking it a decade ago.
If you do have to get out of town today, you might want to give yourself a little extra time.
“The best time to travel, if you are taking a road trip, is as early in the day as you possibly can, or wait until after 6 pm,” Shupe said. “The key is to avoid getting on the roadways when people are heading to and from work.”
Think you’ll beat traffic by heading home from your trip on Sunday instead of Monday? Think again.
“Here in Southern California, we are expecting peak congestion to actually be on Sunday afternoon. That’s when the drive from L.A. to San Diego on the 5 will take about 3 hours and 24 minutes, an increase of 47% compared to the typical drive time.”
The extra travel demand is also having an impact on local gas prices. The L.A. County average jumped nearly 2 cents to $4.89 per gallon. In Orange County, there’s been a 2.5 cent rise to an average of $4.86.
If you’re hitting the roads this weekend, be sure to drive safe. Last year, 45 people were killed in crashes statewide during Memorial Day weekend, nearly a 30% increase from 2021.
To deter unsafe behavior, the California Highway Patrol is ramping up its patrols starting at 6 p.m. on Friday night and continuing through almost midnight on Monday.
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