California drivers hoping to escape for Memorial Day weekend may want to avoid one nightmare window: Friday evening.
A record 45 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday, according to AAA, with 39.1 million people expected to drive.
In Southern California, 3.6 million residents are projected to head out of town for the long weekend, according to the Auto Club of Southern California, as reported by City News Service.
About 2.9 million of them are expected to drive, while 388,000 will fly and 279,000 will travel by bus, train, cruise ship or other means, the Auto Club said.
The worst times to be on the road are expected to be noon to 9 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday and noon to 5 p.m. Monday, according to AAA data.
The best times to leave are after 9 p.m. Thursday, before 11 a.m. Friday or Saturday, and before 10 a.m. Monday, according to the data.
The biggest Southern California bottleneck is expected on the eastbound 10 Freeway from Los Angeles to Palm Springs.
That drive is projected to peak at 5:30 p.m. Friday and take 4 hours and 21 minutes, 88% longer than normal, according to AAA.
San Diego drivers heading to Palm Springs on the northbound 15 Freeway are expected to see traffic peak at 5:45 p.m. Friday, with the trip taking 4 hours and 17 minutes, 54% longer than usual.
In Northern California, The San Francisco-to-Napa drive on the eastbound 80 Freeway is expected to peak at 6:15 p.m. Friday and take 2 hours and 47 minutes, 78% longer than normal, according to the AAA data.
California drivers will still, however, pay a steep price for the weekend on the road — as the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the Golden State remained sky-high as of Thursday afternoon where it sat at $6.143, which is over a dollar-fifty higher than the national average.
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