HOUSTON \u2013 Houstonians planning to hit the road this Labor Day weekend should plan ahead \u2014 and leave early.<\/p>\n
Doug Shupe, AAA corporate communications manager, said the best strategy is simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cBest time to leave would be as soon as you wake up, have your coffee and then hit the road early. Before noon is ideal. You really want to avoid those afternoon hours \u2014 2 p.m. all the way through 8 p.m.,\u201d Shupe said.<\/p>\n
Expect busy highways across Houston<\/p>\n
Travelers heading out of Houston can expect heavy traffic on several major highways. Shupe said popular destinations will drive congestion across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re gonna be busy. We know that the 10 will be very busy with a lot of folks heading to San Antonio over the amusement parks, and Highway 71 will be busy as a lot of folks head up to the lakes in Austin. But even here in our area, 45 will be busy because a lot of Texans will be heading down to Galveston,\u201d Shupe said.<\/p>\n
Save money on gas<\/p>\n
Gas prices are expected to be higher this Labor Day weekend. Travelers looking to save money can download apps that identify the cheapest gas stations along their route.<\/p>\n
Reporters also recommend packing luggage inside the vehicle rather than on the exterior. Cargo on the outside of a car can increase drag, reducing fuel efficiency and costing drivers more at the pump.<\/p>\n
Safety tips before you go<\/p>\n
Before pulling out of the driveway, Shupe said drivers should make sure both they and their vehicles are ready for the trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrepare yourself as the driver \u2014 get plenty of sleep, make sure everybody\u2019s buckled up, and don\u2019t be distracted. Obey the speed limit. And then also make sure that your vehicle is ready for that road trip. Check tire pressure, check the tire tread,\u201d Shupe said.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Houstonians planning to hit the road this Labor Day weekend should plan ahead \u2014 and leave…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[497,56,58,57,143888,21013,6208],"class_list":["post-425545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-gas","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-labor-day","tag-prices","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}