Holiday travelers filled regional highways Friday as they headed to holiday celebrations.
AAA Mid-Atlantic predicts 1.1 million D.C.-area residents, about 23 percent of the area’s population, will travel at least 50 miles for Christmas celebrations.
Most of the travelers (about 80 percent) will drive to their destinations, AAA predicts.
Highways such as the Beltway and Interstate 66 filled with cars well before the afternoon rush hour and stayed that way throughout Friday.
“A lot of people left earlier than usual to get out before the storm hit,” said AAA spokesman Lon Anderson.
Saturday and Sunday morning will not be easy driving days either, as many travelers take one- or two-day trips to their destinations.
“Christmas is a very family focused holiday,” Anderson said. “Parents want to have their children around the Christmas tree with their grandparents. The next couple of days will be very heavy. There is going to be a lot of traffic.”
About 16 percent of D.C.-area travelers will fly to their holiday destinations, AAA estimates.
Rob Yingling, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said airline-ticket data indicated the busiest travel days would be Friday and Tuesday.
At Dulles International and Reagan National, which MWAA operates, Yingling said security lines were moving smoothly but passengers should arrive at least two hours early for domestic flights and three hours for international journeys. Travel delays caused by the blizzard in the Midwest, which temporarily closed the Denver airport, are largely gone, Yingling said.
“Passengers should check their flight’s status with their airline even if they are going to a destination that they do not think will be affected by weather,” he said.
Airport officials encourage passengers to use public transportation but parking can be found at the facilities.
“We have plenty of parking available at Dulles and we have the capability to open additional lots if the economy lots get near capacity, so we do not anticipate turning anyone away,” Yingling said. “At Reagan National, there is the potential that the economy lots will fill up over the weekend, but we will have parking available in other parking facilities at the airport. After Monday, we do not expect any parking issues, whatsoever.”
