Airport, Road Jams Expected for Holiday

As if their weekday work commutes didn’t provide enough in the way of traffic jams, millions of Southern Californians will celebrate the Labor Day weekend by getting in their cars and driving somewhere, most likely in heavy traffic.

Many travelers will also be flying on a weekend that for many represents the end of summer and a chance for one last hurrah before returning to school, jobs and the commuting grind.

Los Angeles International Airport, experiencing its busiest summer season ever, is warning air travelers to expect long lines at ticket counters and a hard time finding parking spaces this weekend.

Despite continuing high prices at gasoline pumps, Caltrans estimates that traffic on state highways will be up 11% during the weekend.

The Automobile Club of Southern California estimates that 4.2 million Californians will take trips more than 100 miles from their home, 2.7 million of them from Southern California.

After dropping a few cents, gasoline prices are moving back up, averaging $1.70 a gallon for regular, according to the California Energy Commission.

But many travelers seem undeterred by the high prices.

“Motorists don’t like higher gas prices,” said Auto Club spokeswoman Carol Thorp. “But if they’ve planned a getaway, they are inclined to go.”

Those planning weekend getaways are being warned to leave early and leave plenty of time for the unexpected.

Traffic on highways is expected to be so heavy that the California Highway Patrol expects the buildup on the San Bernardino Freeway--the main escape route to the mountains and deserts for most of Los Angeles County--to begin about 11 this morning.

San Gabriel Valley CHP Officer John Escobedo said heavy eastbound morning traffic throws some people off.

“People figure, ‘We will leave a couple of hours early and hit the road about 1 o’clock,’ and then find themselves knee deep in heavy traffic,” Escobedo said.

Last year, 43 people died in California over the Labor Day weekend, a record of carnage unmatched even by the Fourth of July and nearly twice the number of traffic deaths that occurred over the last Memorial Day weekend.

To handle the heavy traffic, Sgt. Rhett S. Price said the CHP will go into what it calls its maximum enforcement mode, meaning that officers who normally have weekends off will be working.

Margie Tiritilli, a spokeswoman for Caltrans, said highway traffic is expected to be heaviest Monday, when vacationers return.

“The traffic starts building Friday and goes into the evening. Then Monday is heaviest,” Tiritilli said.

With the severe parking crunch at LAX, brought on by the onslaught of travelers, officials were urging air passengers to take airport buses and vans, taxis or other public transportation to the airport.

The FlyAway bus service from Van Nuys Airport to LAX will be adding extra buses for peak periods Friday morning, and then for returns Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights. But Richard French, a spokesman for the airport, said he expects the service’s 2,000 parking spaces to be full by noon today. He urged passengers to have someone drop them off at the bus service, at Woodley Avenue and Saticoy Street.

Although throngs of travelers will mean crowded freeways and jammed airlines, they are expected to translate into higher revenue for the state’s tourism-related businesses.

The California Division of Tourism estimates that a record 71.4 million summertime vacationers--both Californians and out-of-state visitors--will have traveled within the Golden State by the season’s close Monday, exceeding last year’s tally by nearly 10%.

The extra bus-, car- and planeloads of trip-takers are expected to help push revenues for the state’s tourism industry past last year’s mark of $67.9 billion by at least 5%.

San Diego, with its zoo, other attractions and proximity to Mexico, leads the list of the most popular Labor Day weekend destinations, according to the Auto Club.

Other top destinations identified by the club are Santa Barbara and other Central Coast cities, Palm Springs, Las Vegas and Yosemite.

Though getaway day for most weekend vacationers begins today, some choice spots were already being staked out.

By Thursday afternoon, a long line of RVs wound down a stretch of beachfront on Ventura’s Rincon Highway. There were families, couples and seniors basking in the hazy sun and swimming in the placid waters. Patti and Dan Painter of Tarzana lounged in chairs, soaking up the atmosphere.

“We’re on vacation. We love it here because there’s always something new,” Dan said, as a train rumbled by behind their campsite.

“The beach was filled with sand dollars one time,” Patti said. “This time we saw dead mackerels,” Dan said. “We have a wildflower book and we walk around and look at the flowers sometimes.”

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Times Staff Writer David Colker and correspondent Catherine Blake contributed to this story.

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* KILLING TIME

With flight delays increasingly common, creative (and desperate) travelers turn waiting into an art form. E1

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Mobile Holiday

Note: A trip is defined as leisure travel of 100 miles or more from home per person, anytime during the weekend.

Source: AAA

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