SAN ANTONIO – Before people fill their plates this Thanksgiving, the roads and highways across the country could be bursting at the seams with traffic.
AAA is predicting one of the busiest weekends for road travel, with about 50 million people getting behind the wheel to visit loved ones.
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While traffic in San Antonio Wednesday morning was still relatively light, Jay Perry did not expect to continue having such luck as he headed out toward McKinney, north of Dallas.
He said he spent time carefully mapping out his five-hour journey, but then reconsidered taking one bypass around Austin.
“The tollway only saves about ten minutes,” he said. “I’m just going to go straight through Austin, and I know how bad Austin traffic is.”
Perry had his mother and aunt along for the ride. They planned to join other relatives for a holiday meal.
“I’m doing the green bean casserole and my salsa. Somebody else is doing the turkey and somebody else is doing all the other stuff,” Perry said.
Brandy Costlow, meanwhile, was just wrapping up one family visit here, and heading off on another.
“We’re leaving my daughters in San Antonio,” she said. “We’re headed to Leesville, Louisiana to my parents.”
Regardless of what the busy roads might hold for them, the drivers say they still had a reason to be thankful.
Gas prices are down this year all across the country.
AAA statistics show the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Texas is about $2.75, compared to almost $3.00 last year.