IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. — Thanksgiving is just days away, meaning travelers are starting to move, whether by air or road.
In Colorado, lots of travelers are opting to get to their Thanksgiving destination by road.
AAA said the worst congestion in the state is expected to be on southbound Interstate 25 from Fort Collins to Denver on Friday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. At that time, travel times are predicted to be up 44% compared to the typical day.
However, the concern for AAA and many travelers is the commute on Interstate 70 through the mountains beginning Monday night.
"It is going to be a little chaotic on the I-70 corridor," said Skyler McKinley, the regional director for public affairs for AAA. "We're advising travelers to plan ahead, considering route changes. Consider changing plans altogether, just as a function of that snow causing choked-up highways and slowdowns."
That's the decision Adonia Hentrich and her family made on Monday. The family of six is headed to Vail for the Thanksgiving holiday.
"We were planning on leaving on Sunday, but then we saw snow on Sunday. So we picked Monday to have the most time in Vail for our vacation," Hentrich said. "We were keeping an eye on the weather, and it looks like Sunday was bad, and Tuesday and Wednesday were bad. We're picking today because that's the day we got."
Hentrich told Denver7 she doesn't have four-wheel drive so driving through treacherous snow conditions on a heavily used highway was never an option for her.
"I would never drive on a day forecasted for snow. Yeah, it's just dangerous. There's gonna be traffic. Never know what's gonna happen," she said.
Weather News
Colorado mountain snow expected to interfere with Thanksgiving travel this week
While Hentrich and family changed their travel plans to accommodate for potentially dangerous conditions, other drivers simply got lucky.
"We're driving from Pennsylvania," said Kevin and Wendy Wiseman. "We started a little over a week ago, and we're heading to Moab, Utah, right now."
The couple was driving on I-70 through the mountains Monday and was glad they were missing the incoming snowstorm.
"We're probably going to try to beat the snowstorm, chase the sunshine," they said ."Little bit of stop and go, some congestion, [but] not too crazy. I want to say it took us derailed us maybe 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and then we were back on."
AAA advised anyone who was planning on traveling on I-70 through the mountains to get a head start, but if that's no longer possible, leaving as early as possible Tuesday morning may be the next best option.
"We all want to be to our destination, but there might be circumstances where you need to consider changing or canceling your plans if your car is not up to snuff," McKinley said. "What I always say is you can't be mad at traffic. You are traffic."
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