Traveling for turkey?

To maximize all available travel lanes over the Thanksgiving travel period, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will suspend lane closures statewide from noon Wednesday, Nov. 23, until noon Monday, Nov. 28.

The days before and after Thanksgiving traditionally have the highest concentration of vehicle traffic of any holiday period nationwide. Reports this year indicate more travelers are expected to drive during the six-day holiday travel period between Nov. 23 and Nov. 28.

To help motorists plan the timing of their trips during the Thanksgiving holiday, VDOT has created detailed online maps showing peak travel times from previous years. Travelers are encouraged to view this information online to plan their holiday travel schedule around expected peak congestion times. Browse to http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/thanksgiving_2011.asp to view the traffic data maps on VDOT’s website.

VDOT created the maps using speed data provided both by the agency collected from interstate pavement sensors and by INRIX collected from vehicle probe data. Based on traffic data from previous years, the least amount of interstate congestion during the week of Thanksgiving is likely to exist before noon Wednesday, Nov. 23. The heaviest congestion is likely to occur the afternoon and evening of Sunday, Nov. 27.

Browse to http://youtu.be/20hpyPc8qPg to view a video demonstrating how to use VDOT’s Thanksgiving holiday travel congestion maps.