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 into their cars and driving somewhere, most likely in heavy traffic.

In Orange County, motorists can expect heavy traffic on all outbound freeways beginning about 3 p.m. today, said Mark Reeves, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in Irvine. “Holiday traffic will mingle with rush-hour traffic.”

The freeways most affected, he said, probably will be the eastbound Riverside, northbound Orange, northbound San Diego and the Garden Grove in both directions.

Traffic should begin to subside about 7 p.m., Reeves said, with light days on Saturday and Sunday. Then Monday, starting about 4 p.m., returning traffic is likely to clog the same freeways in the opposite directions.

“People should make sure their cars are properly serviced,” Reeves said. “Check the gas and tires and coolant. Give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination.”

He added some common-sense advice for motorists: “Watch the traffic, don’t drink and drive, wear your seat belt and use your cell phone for emergencies. If you’re traveling in a group, make sure that everybody knows the destination so that if someone gets separated they won’t get lost.”

Last year, Reeves said, there were 87 arrests for driving under the influence and one fatal accident in Orange County over the Labor Day weekend.

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.

At John Wayne Airport, officials said they anticipate no more traffic than on a typical summer weekend.

But 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.

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 anticipates the buildup on the San Bernardino Freeway--the main escape route to the mountains and deserts for much of the Southland--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 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.

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 revenue 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.

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Times staff writer David Colker and correspondents Stephen Gregory and Catherine Blake contributed to this report.

* KILLING TIME

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