By KATHY MELLOTT
More people than last year are expected to travel this Thanksgiving
– the busiest travel day of the year
– but caution is being urged regarding speed, alcohol and weather conditions.
The AAA motor club’s survey of nearly 1,400 households shows an increase of 2.1 percent or 33.2 million people traveling by car for a distance of more than 50 miles this Thanksgiving.
An estimated 2.1 million vehicles are expected to use the Pennsylvania Turnpike throughout the five-day holiday, which starts today and ends Sunday, turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo said.
“It will be up slightly over last year,” he said Tuesday.
The projected increase is based on use of the toll road during holidays earlier this year.
“Traffic has been up this year. Especially over holidays, we have seen a slight uptick,” DeFebo said.
Weather conditions for the next five days include colder temperatures and possible snow flurries during the weekend, with some accumulation in higher elevations, AccuWeather in State College reports.
Cloudy skies with light drizzle are expected later today with temperatures dropping as a storm moves east from the Great Lakes, meteorologist Mike Pigott said.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a terribly bad day,” he said of Thanksgiving.
“We’re looking at rain and snow showers possible in Johnstown, and it will get pretty cold.”
Wind and rain or snow showers are possible Saturday with clearing and a slight warming spell Sunday and temperatures topping out at 46 degrees.
Gasoline prices this year are significantly lower than the $3.12 per gallon motorists were paying two years ago in Johnstown. But increasing crude oil prices put the average at $2.69 a gallon at Sheetz stores in Johnstown and Somerset, up from $1.89 a gallon last year.
The good news for holiday travelers is that traffic should move at a reasonable pace with few construction delays.
Most improvement projects have been completed or halted for the winter.
While some orange cones may still be visible, construction zones have been cleared out, said PennDOT District 9 community relations coordinator Tara Callahan-Henry.
“They usually try to get things wrapped up by now, but there might be some barrels to be picked up,” she said.
One exception is on
Route 601 in Somerset, a project which should have little impact on traffic movement, Callahan-Henry said.
Speeds will be monitored by state police and several hundred municipal police departments conducting checkpoints and roving patrols. Police will be watching for speeding, aggressive driving and impaired driving, said Alison Wenger, PennDOT spokeswoman in Harrisburg.
“Thanksgiving weekend is actually the leading one for crashes because of the sheer volume of traffic,” Wenger said.
There were 5,300 crashes and 53 fatalities during the five-day holiday last year. That compares to 4,700 crashes and 46 fatalities in 2007.
By comparison, Christmas of 2008 had 700 crashes and five fatalities, Wenger said.
While traffic is expected to be heavy on most major highways Wednesday and Sunday, it is expected to be noticeably more congested on the turnpike in this area of the state.
“It will be a combination of people coming home and people going out to hunting camps. Sunday will definitely be a peak time, especially around Breezewood, Bedford and Somerset,” DeFebo said.
Traffic on the toll road will be heavy between 3 and 8 p.m. today. On Sunday, traffic will increase around noon and be heavy through 8 p.m., he said.
