Taylor Swift concerts and Memorial Day Weekend getaways could add up to "a true traffic disaster"
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Memorial Day Weekend travel is expected to be the busiest in more than a decade, and it will likely be even worse in our area because of three Taylor Swift concerts.
AAA expects more than 37 million people to hit the roads nationwide, with Thursday and Friday being the big getaway days.
READ MORE: Taylor Swift's Eras Tour at MetLife Stadium: Everything you need to know
The weekend here is going to be even busier than usual, with tens of thousands of people going to MetLife Stadium for Swift's shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Three Swift concerts in three days would be a lot for our area to handle any time of the year, but couple them with holiday weekend traffic? You should start planning ahead, whether you're going to a show or not.
What makes this tour so special?
There will be Memorial Day Weekend traffic, and more than 200,000 concert-going Swifties.
"Oh my God, this is signs of what could be a true traffic disaster," Total Traffic executive producer Steve Sager said.
In what is already expected to be the busiest Memorial Day travel weekend in over a decade, an extra variable for New Jersey traffic will be Swift's shows at MetLife Stadium, where fans are already stopping by to get their hands on some merch.
"I got a crew neck for me, my mom and my cousin, and then a T-shirt of course," fan Olivia Wills said.
"I got the same crewneck, sweatshirt, tote bag and a tapestry," fan Amanda Depuyt said.
Watch Doug Williams' report
"Everyone is a Switftie, right? Isn't most of America a Swiftie?" fan Shannon McCarthy said.
"We went in and bought sweatshirts, posters and light-up wands, all kinds of stuff for our girls," one person said.
READ MORE: Taylor Swift fans spend night waiting outside MetLife Stadium to buy Eras Tour merchandise
New Jersey State Police are already warning Swift fans on social media, saying "Sorry Swifties -- no ticket, no Taylor-gating."
MetLife's parking lots will be closed to anyone without a ticket to the show.
Sorry Swifties - No Ticket, No Taylor-Gating! MetLife Stadium will host Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour on May 26, 27, and...
Posted by New Jersey State Police on Thursday, May 25, 2023
But what about making sure the New Jersey Turnpike and other surrounding highways don't resemble parking lots as well?
"If you are traveling at that point in time and you want to get by, the eastern spur is going to be your best bet of the Jersey Turnpike to try and avoid all of that. Or if you're traveling south to the Shore, I hate to say it, the Garden State Parkway is going to be there, but you're going to be sitting in a lot of volume in order to get down the Shore. It's as simple as that," Sager said.
READ MORE: Expert tips on avoiding Taylor Swift tickets scams
"We've got literally three Super Bowls this weekend. And if that weren't enough, based on the other cities that she's gone to, by the way, this is Beatles 1964 levels in terms of excitement. This is extraordinary. I've never seen anything like this," Gov. Phil Murphy said.
Perhaps the most "newsworthy" item of the day was Murphy making an announcement shortly after that press conference, officially declaring the "Taylor Swift ham, egg, and cheese" the official state sandwich.