Millions Hitting The Roads For Memorial Day Weekend; Expect High Gas Prices And Longer Delays
CHICAGO (CBS) -- After months of pandemic lockdown, many Americans will be traveling this Memorial Day weekend.
CBS 2's Mugo Odigwe reports a lot of people will be traveling this holiday weekend. AAA is predicting more than 37 million people have getaway plans.
In Illinois, we're talking 1.8 million people, including 1.7 million who will be traveling by road.
Wisconsin is apparently a popular destination, at least for most of the people CBS 2 spoke with at the Lake Forest Oasis on the Tri-State Tollway.
"We're going to Minocqua, Wisconsin, about five more hours north of here," Craig Sanford said.
Xanthia Walker was headed to Milwaukee, and Ben Gilbert was headed to Waupaca.
After being cooped up for months, they've got plans with family this weekend.
If you're traveling too, get ready for a not-so-pleasant surprise.
According to AAA, gas prices this Memorial Day weekend will be the highest since 2014.
But some don't seem to mind.
"In the grand scheme of things, we haven't been traveling a lot anyway, so paying a little bit more this weekend is fine," Gilbert said.
Lorrie Sanford said she's not too concerned about the high gas prices right now.
"It will level itself off," she said.
The national average gas price is a little over $3.50 per gallon. A the Lake Forest Oasis, it was $3.31 on Friday.
"Actually this wasn't too bad. That's why i stopped at the oasis," Steve Greenspan said.
Something else to note, with so many people on the roads, expect some longer delays.
Folks at Inrix, a company that provides location-based data on traffic, say if you're hitting the road on Friday, you'll see the longest travel delay between 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
So leave as early as you can.
Ultimately, those who are traveling this weekend say whatever hassle they encounter is worth it for one simple reason.
"Spending time with family. That's been my goal," Lorrie Sanford said.
"We're very excited. We're still a little bit concerned about the pandemic and everything going on in wisconsin but it will be good hunker down in the cold and see family," Gilbert said.
One more thing: if you're looking for the best navigation app as you head out this weekend, TripSavvy says go with Google Maps. They like that it can quickly reroute you and you can easily choose alternate routes.
