TAMPA, Fla. \u2013 As Floridians get ready for their Thanksgiving travel plans, drivers may see more crowded roads due to the recent airline issues.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
AAA projects that 4.2 million Floridians will travel by car this Thanksgiving
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One factor is travelers changing plans due to the recent airline disruptions
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AAA says Tampa Bay and Orlando are expected to be some of the top destinations nationwide for the holiday<\/p>\n
AAA is projecting that more than 4.2 million Floridians will travel by car this Thanksgiving. That\u2019s up 2.6% from last year.<\/p>\n
One factor is travelers changing plans due to the recent airline disruptions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a little exacerbated by the airline issues. So we\u2019re expecting not only a lot of traffic but a lot of traffic on the highways,\u201d said Sgt. Steve Gaskins with the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).<\/p>\n
Gaskins says that the FHP will increase the number of troopers on the major Florida roads. Because of that extra traffic, he recommends drivers give themselves extra time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that many people hitting the highways, you have to remember your trip may be a bit longer than expected,\u201d Gaskins said. \u201cIf you\u2019re looking at a 6 hour trip, maybe add in an extra hour or two of travel to be patient. So you don\u2019t feel the need the rush to get from point A to point B and get there safely.”<\/p>\n
Even though there were some issues at airports due to air traffic controller and TSA agent shortages, AAA\u2019s Mark Jenkins says that could actually be a positive if you\u2019re looking for a last-minute flight.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThere may be some people who have made alternate plans. Those who are planning on flying now driving instead. But what that means is just more availability,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cMaybe a few extra seats out there on an airplane that weren\u2019t going to be there before. There\u2019s opportunity there for travelers.\u201d<\/p>\n
But on the roads, FHP isn\u2019t counting on that much of an improvement for now.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, as that situation with the airlines recovers and rectifies itself by the time we get to Christmas, we could spread that travel volume across the airways, but for now, a lot of people on the highways,\u201d Gaskins said.<\/p>\n
Gaskins also recommends drivers watch their speed and limit distractions.<\/p>\n
FDOT officials say they are suspending major construction activities through the holiday weekend.<\/p>\n
AAA says Tampa Bay and Orlando are expected to be some of the top destinations nationwide for the holiday. The busiest travel days will be next Tuesday and Wednesday and then the Sunday after Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2013 As Floridians get ready for their Thanksgiving travel plans, drivers may see more crowded roads…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[274,7444,115,135,137,136,7227,278,729,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-52980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-app-top-stories","9":"tag-getting-there","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-tampa","12":"tag-tampa-headlines","13":"tag-tampa-news","14":"tag-tim-wronka","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-traffic","17":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}