Huge Backups Have Travelers Ditching Cars, Walking To Terminals At LaGuardia

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Travelers heading to LaGuardia Airport were met with post-Thanksgiving  gridlock.

Heavy traffic could be seen around all of LaGuardia's access roads with many people choosing to walk over to the terminal, CBS2's Jim Smith reported.

"I travel every week. This is the worst I've ever seen," one frequent flier noted.

Things had gotten so bad that Ann Steele from Ramsey -- on her way back from Louisiana -- decided to walk from Terminal D to Terminal C, and then on the 122nd Street walkway over the Grand Central.

"I don't know. They said it was going to take an hour and a half for a bus to pick us up to our car. I mean for us it's fine, but for older people, that's really far to walk," she said.

Others were ditching their car services and huffing it on foot, with their luggage, in the road itself.

"There's people walking on the highway. There's no walkways. They're walking up the arrival path," one traveler told CBS2's Scott Rapoport.

Construction is taking up lanes on the inner roadways, and overpasses to the airport are closed. The long-term project has been restricting movement in and out of the airport for a while now.

Kelly Carpenter said it will be nice when it's all done.

"I think we'll use Newark Airport next time," she said.

The Port Authority also said that some Newark Airport roadways were congested. It said travelers there should also allow for extra time.

The Transportation Security Administration says 2.6 million people were expected to go through airport screening for the holiday. That's a six percent increase from last year.

A spokesperson for the Port Authority says the agency continues to urge LaGuardia travelers to use mass transit options to and from the airport.

To check current traffic conditions, click here.

• LaGuardia Airport
• Newark Liberty International Airport