Only The Best Travel
Widespread flight cancellations. Excruciating waits for customer service. Unruly passengers. And that was all before the holiday travel season. Even in normal times, the days around Thanksgiving are a delicate period for the airlines. But this week is the industry’s biggest test since the pandemic …
Major US airlines are operating with fewer pilots and flight attendants than they were before the pandemic. With domestic airline bookings nearly back to normal, airlines are trying to do more with less this holiday season. Service meltdowns in October at Southwest Airlines and American …
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/IYKKHN2B4NBKTMTVL2TGK7FTTI.jpg?w=980&fit=980,551&ssl=1 "Thanksgiving holiday travel: what you can expect")
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) – With the holidays comes holiday travel. Whether it’s by car or by plane, travelers can expect to see a difference in congestion, Heal Me Healthy.
Sources say the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day around this holiday for motorists. But for residents around Western Colorado, traffic trends work out in our favor. On I-70, travelers aren’t expected to see much traffic headed east Thursday or Friday.
“Today’s generally the busiest travel day prior to Thanksgiving Day,” said CDOT Statewide Communications Manager Bob Wilson. “And then we see really low numbers of travel on actual Thanksgiving Day.”
Bob Wilson with CDOT says traffic headed east before Thanksgiving is light and the majority of traffic is headed west from Denver. After the holiday, Friday through Sunday, traffic is projected to be heavy headed east towards the Front Range and light in the opposite direction towards the Grand Valley.
We asked Bob how this year’s traffic outlook compares to last year.
“Generally we anticipate that we’ll have a little more traffic than we had last year due to the pandemic,” said Wilson. “But numbers could be a little bit depressed cuz often a lot of the traffic we see especially on the I-70 corridor is due to ski traffic. And right now checking in with a lot of the ski areas, not a lot of snow.”
Brett Shaffer is headed to the Front Range with his family for the holiday.
“We’re coming in from Salt Lake, headed into Aurora Colorado to visit some family for the holiday,” said Shaffer. “We’ve never driven this route before, we’ve never been on the 70. We came this route to see some beautiful scenery along the way. As far as traffic goes I don’t know. I don’t now what I’m expecting but hopefully clear roads.”
As far as air travel, the Grand Junction Regional Airport says the whole week has been busy and their regular parking lot is just about full. Ryan Manz arrived today at the airport, from Houston.
“It’s definitely busier than it has been this year,” said Manz. “I’ve flown a couple times this year to different parts of the country from the same airport in Houston going to Michigan earlier this year & it wasn’t too crazy but today with the holiday travel it’s a lot more busy. It seems like the lines at security & checking bags are a lot longer than normal today.”
Transportation officials say if you are heading back to the Front Range this weekend after Thanksgiving starting Friday, there’s really no way to beat traffic unless you wait until Monday. With Sunday being the heaviest travel day. They also say they’re not expecting weather to be a factor on I-70.
CDOT says you can always check their website for up to date driving conditions before you travel. Located at: https://www.cotrip.org/home
For specific information on I-70,
Visit : https://heelsme.com/
Copyright 2021 KJCT. All rights reserved.
Anchor headphone hook The real estate on your desk is valuable, so stop monopolizing it with your headphones. This hook comes with a secure 3M adhesive and can hold two pairs of headphones wherever you stick it. The sturdy wood and silicon construction also ensures …
/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/619c8c562c08b2567d5f6e71/0x0.jpg?w=760&resize=760,400&ssl=1 "Holiday Gift Guide 2021: Travel Memoirs")
In 2020, reading about destinations gave us an outlet while staying at home. This holiday season, add new stories onto your list of armchair travel books with first-person accounts by travelers of various backgrounds. Here are some travel memoirs that make for both a great …
HELENA — Before you hit the road to visit family and friends during the holidays, there are a few tips for traveling, including following the law to move to the lane next to you during first responders on the side of the road.
“There was nothing more scary honestly than getting the phone call that he had been hit,” said Bethany Rehbein, founder of Move Over Montana.
Her husband is a highway patrolman who has been hit by vehicles passing too close for comfort.
The Move Over Law in Montana can be a life-saving action. The law requires drivers to move into the lane that is furthest from the first responders or towing vehicles on the side of the road and slow down to an appropriate speed. This is why Rehbein founded Move Over Montana, to raise awareness about the Move Over Law.
“Our families go out and work on the side of the road we’re not sure if they’ll come back and we need the public to help protect them,” said Rehbein.
This is why people need to respond quickly to first responders on the side of the road to avoid sliding into a scene.
“You need to keep your eyes on the road and slow down quite a bit when you go past them if you are unable to move over,” said Rehbein.
Sergeant Jay Nelson with Montana Highway Patrol says that speeding is the biggest factor in recent highway fatalities.
“One of the trends we’ve seen in fatality crashes, especially this year is speed, understanding that that speed limit sign is for the most ideal conditions, and so when we have inclement weather, whether it’s raining, whether it’s sleet/snow, slow it down,” said Sgt. Nelson.
MOVE OVER DIGITAL SPEED LIMITS
Nelson says it is the most important thing to keep yourself and others safe on the roads.
“As emergency responders, we have a lot of things on our mind that we’re doing and the last thing sometimes we’re thinking about is that traffic coming at us and so slow down, move over you might save a life,” said Sgt. Nelson.
Slowing down can save a life, and luckily for Sgt. Nelson, one incident shows how important seatbelts and speed can benefit you and others.
“I was on a motor vehicle crash I checked the roadway no one was there, I got into my patrol car. I started to start my crash report and it felt like a couple of seconds I have been in the car, and it was like a sledgehammer hitting me from behind and the young gal that did hit me. She was OK. She was completely hysterical that she had hit a police car. I said ‘Hey, as long as we’re both OK, all is well,’ but it just shows you how quickly these things can happen and how much you really do have to slow down,” said Sgt. Nelson. (STORY)
MOVE OVER DIGITAL SGT NELSONS STORY
Winter driving can be scary with acclimating weather changes throughout the state, Sgt. Nelson says to be prepared.
WEB EXTRA Vehicle Tips 2
“Montana is a vast wide-open state and we love that, but you might be stuck someplace where there’s no cell coverage where people might not be passing by on a regular basis, have it in your car that has a blanket in there has some food rations, has a signaling type device a little flag or something that you can put on your car it says I need help. That’s the biggest thing we can tell people, let people know if you are traveling a long distance say I’m leaving from here I’m going to this destination I should be there by such and such a time. Those are all important things that are calls that we respond to every day when it becomes winter that it could be a very bad situation,” said Sgt. Nelson.
MOVE OVER DIGITAL VEHICLE MAINTENANCE