These Cities Are Expected to Have the Worst Traffic on Thanksgiving

Travelers are preparing to hit the roads with a record closing Thanksgiving holiday season on the horizon, and traffic will be worse in some cities than others.

The highest traffic increase is expected to be found in the area around New York City, according to AAA. There, traffic is estimated to be 133 percent worse than normal when traveling East along the Long Island Expressway between the city and the Hamptons on Tuesday afternoon.

Traffic is also very bad around here Washington, DC on US-50 E between the capital and Annapolis, Maryland. Tuesday will likely see a 120 percent increase in traffic compared to the usual grind.

On the same day, Seattle see a 119 percent increase in traffic from the city to Ellensburg, Washington, along I-90 W; while drivers on I-95 N from Boston to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had to deal with traffic that was 117 percent worse than usual.

on Los Angeles — a city notorious for bad traffic even on the best of days — traffic is at its worst Wednesday night when travelers on I-5 N see a 111 percent increase in road congestion to Bakersfield, California.

Other cities will see smaller increases, such as Houston where travelers heading into the city from Galveston, Texas, on I-45 N are only expected to see a 30 percent increase in traffic. The worst day to drive there is December 2nd.

Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at INRIX, which provides data to AAA, said drivers should keep track of traffic apps and local news alerts, especially “in metropolitan areas like Boston , New York, LA, and Washington, DC, where traffic is expected to be more than double what it would be on a normal day.”

In general, more than 71 million Americans are expected to travel by car on the Thanksgiving holidays between November 26 and December 2. That’s 1.3 million more drivers than last year, with the busiest days predicted to be Tuesday and Wednesday.

In general, travelers hoping to avoid the worst traffic should consider leaving on Thanksgiving Day itself or leaving the morning of the days leading up to Turkey Day.