Roads and highways in the San Francisco Bay Area are expected to be congested for Thanksgiving as several people will most likely travel to be with their families for the holidays after the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
“In California we’re expecting about 7 million people traveling for Thanksgiving, roughly 86% are going to be doing it in a vehicle,” American Automobile Association Northern California spokesperson Sergio Avila, said. “There are going to be a lot of folks on the road. Compared to last year [2020], that’s a 13% increase.”
Avila said that there are about 6.2 million Californians who hit the road during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2019. AAA expects a little number of people that will travel by car this year – at 6.1 million.
Drivers are told to arrange their travel ahead of Thanksgiving.
Here is the guide provided by AAA, according to its data collection app, Inrix, as reported by SFGATE:
—Sunday: worst time, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.; best time, before noon
—Saturday: worst time, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.; best time, before noon
—Friday: worst time, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; best time, before 11 a.m.
—Thursday: worst time, noon to 3 p.m.; best time 11 a.m.
—Wednesday: worst time, noon to 8 p.m.; best after 9 p.m.
“Typically, we advise avoiding travel when people are getting out of work because when you’re mixing with that work traffic, it just adds more congestion,” according to Avila. “If you leave early or really late, it’s usually better.”
In addition, AAA said the stretch of highway in the East Bay: Interstate 80 east from I-580 east to San Pablo Dam Road, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m on Wednesday is the worst “traffic hotspot” in the region.
The I-5 from Colorado Street to Florence Avenue on Wednesday, 3:45 in the afternoon to 5:45 in the afternoon is the worst path if one is going south to Los Angeles.
