Rush-hour traffic heads west, right, and east, left, along the Schuylkill Expressway Wednesday, April 10, 2019 in Philadelphia.
Jacqueline Larma / The Associated Press
Record number of drivers expected this Memorial Day weekend. Here’s what to know.
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Ben Wasserstein/WITF
Jacqueline Larma / The Associated Press
Rush-hour traffic heads west, right, and east, left, along the Schuylkill Expressway Wednesday, April 10, 2019 in Philadelphia.
With Memorial Day weekend coming up, drivers should expect more traffic than usual.
AAA estimates around 1.4 million Pennsylvanians will travel by car this year, a 4% increase from last year.
Jana Tidwell, public relations manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said the road trip volume is expected to be record-breaking.
“We haven’t seen numbers like this ever since AAA began tracking holiday travel, and that was back in the year 2000,” she said.
Tidwell recommends drivers plan accordingly and pay attention to the weather.
“Anything that changes the road conditions, visibility will have an impact on holiday travel,” she said. “So, those that encounter any sort of weather that does that will want to give themselves plenty of extra time”
Pennsylvania State Police will be ramping up patrols and enforcement, wrote Lt. Adam Reed in a statement.
“Our focus will be on aggressive driving enforcement and getting impaired drivers off the road,” he wrote. “Troopers will be monitoring traffic and conducting enforcement looking for aggressive driving, which could include speeding, tailgating and unsafe lane changes.”
PSP will also set up DUI checkpoints across the state. They urge drivers to have patience and limit distractions.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation encourages drivers to monitor traffic conditions at 511pa.com
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
