Thanksgiving Travel: 10 Hotspots on Arizona Roads
More Arizona residents are expected to hit the road this week for Thanksgiving travel than in any year since 2007, AAA predicts, and the travel group projects where some of the traffic hotspots will be.
More than 972,000 Arizonans will travel by car for the holiday, AAA expects, up 3.3 percent from last year. The holiday period id defined as Wednesday, Nov. 22 through Sunday, Nov. 26.
Congestion, however, will begin on Tuesday evening as commuters mix with holiday travelers, AAA figures. Based on history, the group identified these 10 locations as likely bottlenecks:
- I-10 W at 59th Avenue/Exit 138
- AZ-87 N at AZ-188
- AZ-101 S at Guadalupe Road/Exit 56
- AZ-87 S at N Bush Highway
- I-10 E at Baseline Road/Exit 155
- I-10 E at 7th Street/Exit 145
- I-17 N at I-10/Exit 200
- I-10 W at Dysart Road/Exit 129
- I-10 E at Baseline Road/Exit 155
- AZ-101 W at 19th Avenue/Exit 24
Gas prices are up compared to last year, as are car rental rates, AAA says.
A shred of good news: While air travel from Arizona is expected to be up 4.4 percent, Thanksgiving airfares are the lowest they’ve been in five years, based on round-trip flights from Arizona to the nation’s top 40 domestic destinations, AAA said.
