Busy travel weekend for Maryland as Memorial Day holiday draws to a close
BALTIMORE -- Lots of people packed up and hit the road this weekend to enjoy the unofficial start to summer. On Monday, many are heading back home and back to work.
Whether you went to the beaches of the eastern shore, visited the nation's capital or were in town visiting friends, the roadways and sky were busy. Just a few days later, they are busy again as people begin the trek home.
"Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting," Victor Arizmendi, who traveled from Chicago to Maryland this weekend, said. "I flew in on Wednesday, and security like was through the roof."
Memorial Day Weekend marks the first busy weekend for the Eastern Shore. Whether you went by ground or air, it was busy across the state. AAA says more than 300,000 cars were expected to cross the Bay Bridge this weekend.
Matt Patierno was in one of them. He left Kent Island early on Monday to beat the traffic back to his home in New Jersey. He was hoping for sunny skies to keep people at the beaches longer to make traffic lighter in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
"Just time it and leave earlier. Do whatever you need to do to try and get there. Obviously, weather usually helps that out but, not today."
Ariel Tann drove from Pennsylvania for the day just to get some fresh Maryland crabs. She said the rain caused some congestion on the road.
"I have work tonight so it's very busy in the roads are crazy traffic rain," Tann said.
The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) screened more than 2.9 million passengers nationwide on Friay, setting a new single day record. On Thursday, 2.8 million passengers were screened, the third highest day on record.
Arizmendi was traveling from BWI Thurgood Marshall to Annapolis for a wedding. Despite it being commissioning and graduation weekend at the U.S. Naval Academy, he said traffic wasn't terrible.
"Traffic coming in was a little tough but going out not bad at all. And traveling to Annapolis, I feel like we gave ourselves plenty of time to you know, miss rush hour."
The Durand family flew in to visit the metro area from Phoenix. Traffic didn't slow them down to see the sites.
"You're going to have a little bit more congestion around the holiday weekend in some areas, but we found it pretty easy," AJ Durand said before his flight back to Arizona.
The rain proved challenging on some roads. Tann said it slowed down her drive back to Anne Arundel County.
"It is what it is," Tann said. "As long as we get our crabs and get back home, we're going to be good."
All the travelers WJZ spoke to said gas prices were high, but not higher than they were expecting. As for flight prices, the Durand family said they booked early to avoid the long weekend price spike.
