Chicago sees smooth travel as millions hit the road for Memorial Day

CHICAGO (WGN) — Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of the summer, which means millions of Americans are traveling.

AAA predicted 45.1 million people across the country will travel at least 50 miles from home this weekend. The holiday’s previous domestic travel record of 44 million was set 20 years ago.

Of that, 87.4% were expected to travel by car, which equals over 39 million people, and an increase of about 3% from last year.

AAA also says gas prices are slightly lower this year than last thanks to lower oil prices. Those numbers are set to creep up as the hotter weather kicks in.

Darrell Battenfield came to Chicago over the weekend to catch Friday’s ACDC concert at Solider Field. He says the concert was great, but he is not impressed with the gas prices.

“It’s interesting. When we got into town, I heard the gas prices were 67 cents less expensive than last year but I had to chuckle because it’s $2 a gallon more than in Oklahoma,” he said.

Others opted to hang out near home rather than battling all the problems that usually comes with holiday travel.

“We got lucky. The roads are good out here but anywhere outside this neighborhood they’re terrible. There’s potholes, you’ve gotta plan ahead, the drivers are terrible,” one driver said. “Be careful. Keep your eyes on the road.”

Things seem to be moving smoothly both at O’Hare and on Chicago’s roads but peak travel time for Monday is expected to be around 7 p.m.