By SARAH SUTSCHEK – ssutschek@nwherald.com
Reflecting a growing sense that the worst of the economic crisis has passed, AAA expects an increase in Thanksgiving travel from last year, when it dropped 25.2 percent.
“What we’re attributing that to is a small glimmer of change on the horizon,” spokeswoman Beth Mosher said. “The economy is starting to recover.”
According to AAA, just more than 2 million Illinoisans will travel 50 miles or more from home between today and Sunday – an increase of 4 percent from 2008.
However, fewer people are expected to travel by air because of budget concerns, reduced airline capacity, and added charges.
“We’re still not back to the level that we saw in 2007 and 2006,” Mosher said. “There has to be some significant turnaround in the economy for us to see those numbers; it’s hard to say when we might get back to that.”
Nationally, a projected 38.4 million Americans will travel, 33.2 of whom will go by automobile. the number of travelers by air is estimated at 2.3 million, a decline of 6.7 percent from last year, according to AAA.
The Chicago Department of Aviation, however, expects 2.4 million to travel through Chicago’s airports alone. the busiest day for O’Hare is expected to be Monday, with more than 200,000 passengers, while Midway’s busiest day will be Sunday, with 72,000 passengers.
Officials recommend that passengers arrive at least two hours before their scheduled departures.
About 2.9 million people are expected to travel by other means, such as trains and buses – a 1.2 percent increase from last year – according to AAA projections.
Metra has announced extra afternoon trains departing from downtown terminals today. a “Thanksgiving Holiday Ticket” also will be available, providing unlimited two-day travel Thursday and Friday for $5.
Also, in an effort to make travel easier, the Illinois Department of Transportation is making an effort to suspend lane closures wherever possible from 3 p.m. today through midnight Sunday.
However, because of the nature of some projects, some construction zones will continue to have lane closures in effect. These include Route 68 between Healy Road in Barrington Hills for culvert replacement; traffic will be reduced to one lane with traffic signals.
In Marengo, Route 23 will continue to be closed over the Kishwaukee River for bridge construction. a detour is posted.
On the interstates, the Illinois State Police will be conducting their “Alive on the I’s” campaign, where troopers are assigned to patrol each 20-mile portion of the interstates. They also will be teaming up with sheriff’s offices and local police departments for enforcement blitzes.
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