Maryland travelers hit the road early in anticipation of post-Christmas storm

The day after Christmas is typically one of the busiest travel days, with many either heading back home, or their next holiday destination.

But for those in the Baltimore region, it meant also bracing for a wintry mix of freezing rain and sleep, meaning a last second change in plans.

Friday is a First Alert Weather Day due to a slick wintry mix of freezing rain and sleet that will fall across parts of Maryland through the evening.

For travelers who couldn't avoid the weather, the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) have had crews in place to make sure people can travel safely.

Making trip adjustments

Whether they came from Florida, North Carolina, or were just heading to another part of Maryland, many traveling Friday started earlier than initially planned.

While many told WJZ they looked to beat the traffic, they also wanted to miss as much of the winter weather on tap for the central Maryland region and the east coast in general.

"I left as early as I could, [I've been] trying to minimize my stops," said John Cooper, who's traveling to New York from Raleigh, North Carolina. "I'm scheduled to get there around 3 o'clock, I think the snow [over there] starts around 4."

Even before the storm hit, though, traffic slowed down on various stretches on I-95 and other major highways.

AAA recommends for anyone traveling by car this weekend to do so before 11 a.m. or after 8 p.m. AAA predicts nearly 2.4 million Marylanders are traveling for the year-end holiday period, with nearly 90% of them driving.

"We had another place to stop at before making our final stop in Philadelphia, but yeah, we're trying to beat the weather," said Michelle Caldwell of Maryland. "But, I think we're going into the bad weather."

Crews ready to go

SHA has been planning out its response to Friday's weather for days.

SHA spokesman Charlie Gischlar said that due to the nature of the storm, pre-treatment wouldn't have been effective because it would have just been washed away by the rain.

So, crews are focused on salting all the roads they can.

"Ice is nobody's friend. The pavement temperatures and the air temperatures are gonna be right around the freezing level, so that makes salt highly effective in treating the roads," Gischlar said.

SHA's statewide operations center in Hanover has switched to emergency operations. Storm managers will be keeping tabs on conditions from there and will be monitoring crew placement to determine their best placement as the storm goes on.

SHA has a number of resources you can use online to help your trip be as headache-free as possible. You can find them here.

Some of the resources include live traffic cameras, as well as an interactive map where you can see where crews are in real-time.