A Thanksgiving Nightmare for Holiday Travelers From Coast-to-Coast

Nov. 23, 2010 — -- It's shaping up to be a travel nightmare for Americans from coast-to-coast, who are visiting family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday. Highway construction and Mother Nature aren't making matters easier for those taking to the roads, or the skies on the some of the busiest travel days of the year.

AAA projected earlier this month the number of Americans traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday will increase over 11 percent from last year, with approximately 42.2 million people celebrating away from home this year.

"During challenging economic times, there's usually a tug of war between the heartstrings and the purse strings," Troy Green, AAA national spokesperson said. "Because of the strong desire to spend time with family, usually the heart will win out."

On the East Coast, transportation officials issued a warning for motorists driving along I-95 as construction work continues on the Newark toll plaza in Delaware. Major delays that could stretch for miles are expected throughout the Thanksgiving holiday week, especially in Delaware and Maryland.

The northbound toll plaza will be down to six lanes instead of the normal nine because of a reconstruction project intended to make traffic flow through the plaza better when it is finished, likely in the summer of 2011. This holiday season, however, transportation officials in Delaware and Maryland say motorists can expect the usual bottleneck to be much worse.

Green said the AAA expects a record number of people to take to the roads this Thanksgiving season.

"We're expecting 94 percent of all holiday travelers to go by automobile," Green said, up 12 percent from last year.

"Check the traffic reports before you leave home," Green advised the 39.7 million holiday travelers who are going by car. "Americans who are driving to their holiday destinations can expect the roadways, the major arteries to be busy."

Meanwhile on the other side of the country, a vicious winter storm which dumped heavy snow on roads hit the Pacific Northwest and western states Monday. Freezing temperatures made for slick roads and a hazardous evening commute. Some people gave up after more than four hours stuck on the road in the Puget Sound region and turned back, spending the night in their offices.

The Navare family walked home Tuesday after spending the night stranded in a stranger's house.

"He was so kind as to offer us accommodation at his home so he called his wife and brought us home," Tommoy Navare said of the man who offered his home as shelter.