If you haven’t left yet, wait until after dinner
May 22, 2015, 8:23 AM | Updated: 8:56 am
The best times to take off for the long weekend are often the most inconvenient. But if you're determined to avoid the backups, it can be done. (AP)
(AP)
The best times to take off for the long weekend are often the most inconvenient. But if you’re determined to avoid the backups, it can be done.
If you’re headed east across I-90, Mike Allende with the Washington State Department of Transportation, said it’ll be rough for most of Friday. Your best bet is after dinner.
Check the WSDOT travel time charts
“If you can leave a little later that that, that would be great,” he said.
If you’re sticking to the I-5 corridor, Allende said it’ll be bad on Friday from lunchtime to dinnertime, Seattle to Olympia. The wait times are shorter if you’re headed north towards the Canadian border, but Allende said you can expect some congestion regardless of your route or destination.
Allende said that the Washington State Ferries reservation system is up and running for the San Juan Island routes and is a great way to avoid some headache.
And of course, you and everybody else will have to battle to get back home on Monday. Again, leaving really early or after dinner will help you avoid the long backups.
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So why don’t people plan better for this?
“It’s hard to say. People like traveling when they normally travel. They get into that routine and they get used to it,” Allende said.
