Planning a trip over the Thanksgiving Holiday?

Travel Trend Map Helps Anticipate Peak Congestion

To reduce congestion and add lane capacity, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will suspend most highway construction and maintenance work zones on interstates and other roads over the Thanksgiving holiday period. Lane closures will be lifted from noon Wednesday, November 22, 2017, to noon Monday, November 27, 2017.

VDOT’s online, interactive travel-trends map shows peak congestion periods on Virginia interstates during the three previous Thanksgiving holidays (2014-2016). The map shows expected congestion in Northern Virginia on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as well.

The map shows varying amounts of interstate traffic by time of day, using red for heavy congestion, yellow for moderate congestion and green for little or no congestion. 

To use the map, slide the button along the date bar at the top of the map to update predicted traffic information at half-hour intervals between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. for each day. You also can zoom and pan to specific areas of the state.

· Based on the traffic data, periods of heavy congestion was most likely to occur from mid-morning to evening on Wednesday and Sunday. In addition, routes to/from NOVA are likely to be congested mid-morning to evening on Tuesday as well as on Saturday.

· US-1, US-29 and other popular arterials with access to shopping are likely to be congested throughout the holiday weekend.

While the map shows trends for delays during the most recent Thanksgiving holidays, it cannot precisely predict congestion levels for this year’s four-day travel period. For real time information, call 511 or visit http://www.511virginia.org. 

CONTACT: Jenny O’Quinn, 804-225-4984, 804-357-6107, Jenny.OQuinn@vdot.virginia.gov

Marshall Herman 804-692-2134, 804-652-9689, Marshall.Herman@vdot.virginia.gov