Last year an estimated 46.9 million Americans took to the road to enjoy turkey and stuffing somewhere away from home, according to AAA. It's safe to assume many of the families who squeezed into cars for those trips found themselves squeezed between other vehicles caught in bothersome traffic jams.
But after two years of monitoring traffic conditions around the holidays, Google uncovered a few insights that could potentially keep you out of the gridlock game throughout your holiday travels. If you're planning on crossing state lines this year to enjoy your feast, take a look at these best travel times to avoid Thanksgiving traffic.
Best Travel Times to Avoid Thanksgiving Traffic
- If possible, avoid making travel plans for the day before Thanksgiving. According to Google's data, Wednesday is the worst day of the week to travel on before Thanksgiving. It's no wonder seeing as everyone else in America is also scrambling to get to their Turkey Day destinations. If your plans require you to travel on Wednesday, try to leave before or after the timeframe of 3–5 p.m., which is considered the worst time on the worst day to travel.
- It might sound crazy, but the best time to travel for Thanksgiving is, well, Thanksgiving Day. Thursday tends to be the day with the least amount of traffic all week, and since typical Turkey Day feasts take place between 12 and 2 p.m., you're less likely to run into any traffic during this time.
- If you're heading to a new destination for the first time this Thanksgiving, prepare for your trip with directions from more than one source––don't put all of the pressure on Siri. We recommend using reputable map sites like Google maps and MapQuest, plus GPS technology of some kind. And, of course, it never hurts to bring along a more dated yet still handy technology, the road map.
- So you've reached your destination, consumed more turkey than you should have, and packed up the leftovers. It's the day after Thanksgiving and you're probably thinking you can beat traffic by heading home early on Saturday. Unfortunately, this idea runs through just about every other traveler's head. Traffic can be up to 40% worse on Saturday, so spend a little extra time with those long-lost family members and head back home on Sunday instead.
If you're staying around the Pekin area during Thanksgiving, stop by our East Peoria area Ford dealer for some incredible auto service! At Velde Ford, we're committed to providing our customers with an unbeatable level of service and a great car buying experience. Feel free to visit Velde Ford located at 2200 North 8th Street, Pekin, IL 61554.
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