Warning: Labor Day Travel Will Be Laborious

Leave early, or leave the driving to someone else. That’s the advice of airport and highway officials who are planning for throngs of travelers over the long Labor Day weekend.

Friday, for example, may be a 15,300-passenger day--as heavy as during the Christmas season--for John Wayne Airport, said Manager George Rebella. On an average day, 12,300 passengers arrive and depart through the terminal.

For those who expect to stay on the ground and on the road, plan to face major delays predicted for the holiday. Labor Day has traditionally been the worst of the holiday weekends for traffic accidents because more people tend to travel and more people are likely to drink and drive, said California Highway Patrol officer Leslie Ann Lazo.

“Labor Day is seen more as a party weekend. There’s more people on the roads going places,” Lazo said.

Last year, CHP officers arrested 2,350 people statewide on Labor Day weekend for drunk driving--an increase from 1987, when 2,154 arrests were made.

Drivers should avoid freeways on Friday and Monday, especially during the afternoons when the traffic is usually insurmountable during a holiday period, said CHP Officer Ken Daily.

“Leave in the wee hours, instead,” Daily advised.

California Department of Transportation officials recommend that drivers try alternative routes rather than the main highways. But Caltrans is betting that its new car-pool lanes on the San Diego Freeway can beat back some of the traffic blues.

“Probably the best hope we can offer is that the car-pool lanes are scheduled to be opened by Friday,” said Caltrans spokeswoman Eileen Aragon.

For those who don’t plan to go far but want to take advantage of Labor Day sales, there could be bad news as well--if shoppers attempt to use the freeways.

“It’s hard to tell people what to avoid because sooner or later they will run into something bad on the road,” Daily said.

Several trouble spots are likely to develop where the San Diego Freeway exits to Bristol Street, near the entrance to South Coast Plaza, and where it exits to Crown Valley Parkway, near Mission Viejo Mall. CHP officials recommend that shoppers leave the freeway before their usual exits for the shopping meccas to avoid bottlenecks.

Airport Manager Rebella urged anyone traveling by air to “plan on arriving (at the terminal) at least two hours before scheduled flights” and to use the parking lots on Main Street and Skypark Circle, between MacArthur Boulevard and Red Hill Avenue, across the San Diego Freeway from the airport. And he suggested that motorists use Birch Street as an alternative to Campus Drive, which is being widened.

Although the airport has increased the number of parking spaces near the existing passenger terminal as part of a $310-million expansion program, construction work on the airport’s new $50-million passenger terminal and adjacent roadways has caused congestion in the area, Rebella said.

The northbound airport entrance from Campus Drive is closed, with the main entrance at the intersection of Michelson Drive and MacArthur Boulevard still available.

Unfortunately, said Bill Pemberton, assistant airport operations chief, some drivers cause additional congestion in front of the existing terminal by circling the roadway system instead of parking in the new southwest garage, about a 10th of a mile away. The cost for parking in the new garage is $1 an hour or $12 per day.

The auxiliary lots across the San Diego Freeway are $1 per hour but only $6 per day and have shuttle service to the terminal.

Despite the forecast of big crowds, airport officials said the Saturday and Sunday sandwiched between the beginning and end of the long holiday weekend are expected to be light travel days, with about 6,000 to 7,000 passengers.

LABOR DAY DEATHS

CHP statewide figures for Labor Day weekend--Friday 6 p.m. to Monday midnight:

1988--36 people were killed; 31 (86%) were without seat belts.

1987--45 people were killed; 39 (87%) were without seat belts.

1986--51 people were killed; 47 (92%) were without seat belts.

Total number of people killed statewide in traffic accidents for Labor Day weekend:

1988: 53

1987: 64

1986: 65

1985: 47

1984: 69

Source: California Highway Patrol