GARDEN CITY, NY – Long Island residents are ready to catch the last (unofficial) rays of summer sunshine.
AAA says roads will be clogged over Labor Day weekend, with the busiest days expected to be Thursday, Friday and Saturday, according to data from INRIX.
Making traffic worse, AAA said the national price of gasoline is now 47 cents lower per gallon than it was during the same period last year, at $3.35. The average in New York is $3.50, and on Long Island it is $3.36.
Domestic rental car rates are 16 percent lower than they were over Labor Day weekend a year ago, leading to crowded highways.
If you’re heading to your destination this weekend, remember that the worst times to travel are usually Thursday and Friday between 1pm and 7.30pm and Saturday between 8am and 11am.
Car breakdowns are always stressful and even more complicated in traffic jams.
“It can also be extremely dangerous when large trucks and cars speed past the stranded driver,” said Robert Sinclair Jr. of AAA Northeast. “All 50 states have some form of speed limit law to increase safety for motorists and emergency responders on the side of the road.”
If you’re traveling across the area’s bridges and tunnels over the holiday weekend, you’re not alone.
AAA expects nearly 5 million vehicles to travel through and over MTA facilities Thursday through Monday. At peak travel, 60,000 crossings per hour are expected between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday and between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Friday. The busiest bridge will be the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, with more than 1 million vehicles, AAA said.
