Experts Tell When to Hit the Road for Memorial Day Weekend

Here's a hint: Don't leave Thursday!

With the Memorial Day holiday weekend about to start, many people in our region are thinking about hitting the road for a getaway weekend. But your schedule may be a day off.

Analysts at the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board said Thursday, not Friday, is the worst day to hit the road. They looked at historical traffic information from the past five years on area freeways in the days leading up to the Memorial Day weekend.

They said Thursday afternoon had worse traffic overall than Friday. On average, it took 50 to 100 percent longer to reach a destination than on a day with no traffic. According to their data, the Thursday afternoon rush ended about 8 p.m., and traffic didn’t pick up again until about 11 a.m. Friday.

AAA spokesman John Townsend also had tips on when not to hit the road.

"The worst time to travel would be [Wednesday] between 5 and 6, [Thursday] night between 5 and 6 and at rush hour on Friday afternoon," he said.

Look out for major traffic on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. 

About 377,000 vehicles are expected to travel over the bridge between Wednesday afternoon and Monday night, marking a 6 percent increase compared to last year.

You can help ease Bay Bridge traffic by staying in your lane, using your headlights and keeping your distance from the vehicle ahead of yours, Maryland Transportation Authority Police said.

To handle the traffic, the express lane schedule on Interstate 95 will be modified:

  • Thursday: Southbound reversal begins one hour earlier at 10 a.m.
  • Friday: Southbound reversal begins one hour earlier at 10 a.m.
  • Saturday: Normal operations – Lanes reverse to northbound at 2 p.m.
  • Sunday: Northbound Lanes will close around 7:30 a.m. The Rolling Thunder event will access the Lanes via Opitz Boulevard with the support of Express Assist crews. The Lanes will open around 11 a.m. again in the northbound direction
  • Monday: Express Lanes remain northbound all day
  • Tuesday: Normal operations – southbound reversal begins around 11 a.m. with Lanes opening by 1 p.m.
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