As Thanksgiving approaches, heavy traffic is expected on roadways in Massachusetts.
Whether you’re planning to travel Wednesday or trying to get a head start Tuesday, MassDOT officials have some advice for avoiding the biggest backups.
"We're urging drivers to try to leave either early in the morning or after 8pm to try to avoid the conventional rush hours or peak travel time of people going to work or school," said acting MassDOT Secretary and CEO Frank DePaola.
One thing you won’t be able to avoid if you have to wait until Wednesday to hit the road is the anticipated winter storm that will be sweeping through much of the state, bringing a mix of snow and rain to New England.
"I can assure you that MassDOT will have our full complement of snow equipment and contractors out on the roads, we will pre-treat before the storm event begins," said DePaola.
DePaola says the typical spots are expected to see the biggest congestion – especially interchanges along the Massachusetts Turnpike.
He says his crews do as much as they can to try to alleviate that, but there’s only so much that can be done on roads that weren’t built to handle the kind of traffic we now see daily.
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"We're going to have to live with congestion on our roadways for the foreseeable future," said DePaola, "until we can do some real significant infrastructure improvements."
While the majority of people traveling for Thanksgiving will drive, many will fly. Airlines for America estimates there will be 12.3 million round-trip passengers globally for the holiday, up 1.5 percent from last year.
