Thanksgiving travel: When to hit the road and how to avoid the traffic
BOSTON - The Thanksgiving travel rush -- and all the traffic that comes with it -- is on.
On Tuesday, the Department of Transportation said the peak travel time started at 2 p.m. and began tapering off at 6 p.m. on the interstates and Route 24.
Jake Robertson, who inched along the Mass Pike on his way to Connecticut, said, "Not great, but I've seen it worse. Just getting out of Boston is difficult, but I think we're through the thick of it now."
Halfway between Eastern and Western Massachusetts, a wintry mix is expected to land, creating a dicey drive for those crawling their way to their loved ones.
Sarah Mesibov was headed to New York on Tuesday night. "I'm nervous, but I grew up in the Northeast so driving in snow is not that big of a deal," she sad. "But we'll see what happens. I hope I'm not eating my words with that, but we'll see."
The wintry weather could impact what happens in the skies, too. At Logan Airport, the TSA is expecting to screen more than 70,000 fliers on its busiest days - the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
A big test is how the airlines will handle the bad weather a big volume of travelers.
Clint Henderson is the managing editor for The Points Guy. "I'm hoping that even if there are disruptions from this Thanksgiving storm that the airlines will be able to recover quickly from that disruption as opposed to where we're seen complete meltdowns in the past," he said.
If you are planning to hit the road on Wednesday, the best time to travel is before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m., according to MassDOT.