Fourth of July Weekend Expected to Be a Crowded One

With slightly humid, quintessentially summer weather expected for the next few days, hoards of hot travelers are heading for cool waters for the Fourth of July weekend with lots of recreational equipment in tow.

That, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ernie Sanchez, will make for some bad traffic.

From 6:01 tonight through the first big summer weekend, the CHP will go into “maximum enforcement period” mode, putting 85% of its officers--15% more than normal--to work.

“With the economy good and gas going down in price, people are taking advantage of this,” Sanchez said. “More people are going out and having fun.”

Sanchez cautioned drivers to slow down and buckle up.

Twenty-five people died in California highway accidents over the Fourth of July holiday last year, and 60 people died the year before, according to a CHP report.

With many people driving at slow speeds, tugging trailers, boats and aquatic equipment behind, traveling on the Independence Day weekend can be dangerous, Sanchez said.

Airports will be crowded, although not as mobbed as on Thanksgiving and Christmas, or long holiday weekends such as Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Burbank airport expects about 15,000 people to pass through during the weekend--about 20% more than normal--according to airport spokesman Victor Gill.

Gill recommended that air travelers give themselves more time than normal to catch their planes.

“It’s not quite the same old 15-minute in-and-out thing,” Gill said. “Curb space is pretty tight.”

Los Angeles International expects crowds from Friday through Sunday to be comparable to those on Memorial Day weekend. Travel is expected to be so heavy--about 195,000 people a day are scheduled to pass through LAX this weekend--that officials warned there might be intermittent closures of some parking structures in the central terminal area.

Many area residents are renting recreational vehicles to get away for the long weekend.

“They are going everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, in full force,” said Cheryl Almuina, owner of Metro RV Inc., in Burbank. She said she had units heading off to Sequoia National Park, San Francisco, Carpinteria and Las Vegas.

All 100 of her units would be cleared off the lot by Saturday afternoon, she predicted.

Campgrounds are expected to be full.

At Castaic Lake, campgrounds have been booked for months, said regional parks superintendent Mika Yamamoto. Castaic Lake’s two boating areas, with a total capacity of 500 boats, are expected to fill early. Latecomers can rotate in as other boaters leave, she said.

All reservation sites in the Angeles National Forest were booked by Thursday afternoon, officials said.

“Everyone has gotten out of the doldrums of gloomy June,” said a man accepting reservations Thursday for the national forest. “This is as busy as it’s going to get.”

He said all remaining sites at the forest’s 12 camping areas are first-come first-serve.

For the people who stay home to have a barbecue or watch a local fireworks display, Gary Ryan of the National Weather Service in Oxnard predicted sunny summer weather through the weekend.

Temperatures through Sunday are expected to be in the 80s and low 90s in the Los Angeles Basin, Ryan said. Low clouds and fog will shroud coastal areas in the morning, but are expected to burn off by early afternoon. Temperatures by the beach should be in the 70s.

Monday is expected to be hotter but less humid, Ryan said.