COLUMBUS – The long Thanksgiving holiday weekend got underway with severe weather threatening to disrupt travel plans from coast to coast.
The number of Ohioans crowding the state’s roads and airports is expected to eventually reach 2.3 million, a 3 percent increase over last year. More than 2 million Ohioans will be driving to their destination, 56,000 more than last year.
“Wednesday afternoon, right before Thanksgiving, is going to be the busiest time to travel with trips expected to take as much as four times longer in major metro areas,” said Kimberly Schwind, senior community relations manager for AAA Ohio.
A wintry storm that left at least one person dead was expected to push eastward as anxious travelers buckled up and barreled headlong into the busy, if not perilous, holiday week.
The storm was headed for South Dakota, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin while a “bomb cyclone” weather phenomenon was expected to simultaneously topple trees, knock out power and dump snow as it rolled into California and Oregon.
Airlines expect traffic to be up about 4 percent from this time last year and many of those travelers could find themselves stranded or dealing with delays.
“Wherever you’re flying, you could see a ripple effect across the country where your flight could be delays or canceled,” Schwind said.
She advises getting to the airport at least two hours before your departure time and checking the flight’s status.
About 300,000 people are expected to travel through John Glenn Columbus International Airport between Nov. 22 and Dec. 2. The busiest days will be Tuesday and Monday, Dec. 2, with more than 34,000 passenger expected to pass through the airport each day.
Although high winds were forecast Wednesday, the worst of the weather should skirt Ohio.
“We’re not expecting any snow, anything that would really create some travel issues on the roads,” Ohio Department of Transportation press secretary Matt Bruning said.
ODOT expects a 63 percent increase in traffic compared to the Thanksgiving weekend in 2018, making it the busiest holiday travel period of the year in Ohio.
With the extra traffic, Bruning says roadwork will be suspended and ODOT will open as many lanes as possible, but he says there are still large construction zones on I-70 in downtown Columbus, I-71 on the South Side, as well as on I-75 in Toledo, Findlay and Cincinnati; I-271 in Cleveland and there are several projects underway in the Akron area.
He reminds drivers to pay extra attention while driving through work zones and allow additional time to reach their destinations.
The auto club predicts more than 55 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home between Wednesday and Sunday, the second-highest number ever, behind only 2005, despite rising costs for a road trip.
Nationwide, a gallon of regular cost $2.59, up 3 cents from a year ago. In Ohio, the statewide average price of $2.44 was 17 cents higher than a year ago. Among the states neighboring Ohio, pump prices ranged from $2.36 a gallon in Kentucky to $2.80 in Pennsylvania.
The average price in Columbus Wednesday morning was $2.44, according to the AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc. The lowest average price in Ohio was $2.34 in Canton. The highest prices were in southeast Ohio at $2.56 a gallon.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol is reminding motorists to buckle up, never drive impaired and always follow traffic laws. Last year during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, seven people were killed in seven fatal crashes, three of the fatalities the result of an impaired driver and three involved people who were unbuckled, patrol spokesman Lt. Robert Sellers said.