Millions Hit The Road For Memorial Day Weekend
RIDGEFIELD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Tens of millions of drivers got behind the wheel this Memorial Day weekend.
AAA projects that more than 37 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more during the holiday weekend, most of them by car. Approximately 1.6 million are expected to take to the skies.
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Travel experts say it's the highest travel volume for the holiday in a decade.
Millions Hitting The Road For Memorial Day Weekend
Lower gas prices are part of the reason more people are traveling, according to AAA. Gas prices in the Tri-State area are about a dollar cheaper than last year.
As CBS2's Weijia Jiang reported, traveling on Memorial Day likely leads to one question.
"I want to ask, 'How much longer?' again and again," said Kate Haughey, 9.
Because getting there, maneuvering through heavy traffic can be frustrating.
"It took us about two hours to go 20 miles," said Cindy Solliday of Bethpage.
CBS2 caught the Solliday family taking a much-needed break from their trip from Bethpage, Long Island to Wildwood, New Jersey. Solliday said they had been in the car for three and a half hours, and traffic was "awful."
Some back roads were less crowded, but were filled with police officers pulling over speeders.
New Jersey State Police have added an extra 200 troopers on patrol from now until Tuesday at 6 a.m., but you might not see some of them. They are dark and appear unmarked, but for a faint state police logo on the side.
Officers in New York are also out in force, watching drivers heading to Long Island and the historic air show over Jones Beach.
While some travelers were just getting started Friday night, many have been on the roads all day. At the Vince Lombardi rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike, many drivers were hoping to beat the masses by heading out early Friday morning.
Connecticut Turnpike Heavy With Vacation Travelers
"I'm trying to beat the traffic because I know the traffic is going to be crazy today," Long Island City resident Danyale Bell told CBS2's Andrea Grymes. "Woke up bright and early this morning, couldn't even sleep."
LINK: Tri-State Guide To Planes, Trains & Automobiles
"It's taken me like three hours to get here, which normally it takes me two hours just to get to the middle of Connecticut from where I'm coming from," Boston resident Brittny Bishop said. "It's actually really nice nobody being on the road right now."
AAA said when planning when to leave this weekend, it is best not to hit the road late at night and drive into the early morning hours because of a phenomenon called "microsleep."That's when you drift off for a few seconds while driving, which can have deadly consequences.
Some of the bottleneck areas to avoid are Route 80 and Route 95, as well as the New Jersey Turnpike.
Also, CBS2's Alex Denis advised that construction continues on the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend. The Manhattan-bound lanes will be closed from midnight through 7 a.m. Saturday.
The Manhattan Bridge or the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel should be used as an alternative.
Most other road construction projects are suspended for the weekend.
For mass transit riders, the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and NJ TRANSIT will all offer extra service. But on Monday, trains will operate on a Sunday schedule.
Most connecting services are also suspended. Denis advises that you should check your line for specific train schedules.
Penn Station was packed with commuters late Friday afternoon, but crowds calmed down by the early evening, CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported. Train travelers were advised to check schedules and be prepared to wait.
Meanwhile, AAA advises that anyone who did not leave before late Friday afternoon should consider waiting it out until 7 a.m. Saturday.
On Monday, travel experts said the busiest drive time is between 6 p.m. and midnight. So you might need to give up those extra few hours of vacation to avoid getting stuck in traffic by leaving Monday morning or early afternoon.
And AAA expected 350,000 car breakdowns this weekend, so they're urging motorists to get their brakes and tires checked.
