Race Is On to Reach That Turkey Dinner

The annual Thanksgiving travel rush officially begins today, with airports girding for crowds and highway experts predicting that road travel in the region will exceed pre-9/11 levels for the first time.

“It’s going to start early,” LAX spokesman Paul Haney said. “By 5 a.m. we’ll be extremely busy.”

Flight delays caused by poor weather in other parts of the country could add to the crunch, Haney said.

The Automobile Club of Southern California predicts that more people will be on the roads this weekend than in years.

“This year has unleashed a pent-up demand for travel that was first reduced by 9/11, and then by economic concerns and the war in Iraq,” said Carol Thorp, an auto club spokeswoman.

Travelers will pay a price to satisfy that demand, with gas well over $2 a gallon.

“We’re going to have a busy holiday season this year, even though

The route to Las Vegas will be especially congested, according to the state Department of Transportation.

A repaving project on Interstate 15 near its junction with Interstate 215 in Devore will be put on hold from today to Sunday, giving drivers access to all northbound and southbound lanes.

Still, Caltrans spokeswoman Rose Melgoza warned that Interstate 15 would probably be congested this weekend, particularly on Sunday afternoon, when Southern California travelers return from Las Vegas.

Air travelers also can expect crowds.

Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport are expecting 1.8 million travelers, 11% more than last year, for the period covering last Friday through Monday.

Despite the increase, the figure is still below the record-breaking level of 2 million passengers seen during Thanksgiving 2000, said an LAX spokesman.

Airport officials at LAX, Ontario and John Wayne in Orange County recommend that passengers departing in the peak periods be at ticketing lobbies two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight.

But some have found a way around the hassles of travel by air and asphalt: They’re taking the train.

“It’s convenient, more pleasant, and it’s safe,” said Amanda Johnson, who was boarding an Amtrak passenger train in Santa Ana on Tuesday with her mother for a trip to Santa Barbara.

Johnson, 22, and her mother, Mary Fritzsche, could have driven, but they were repelled by the prospect of clogged freeways and high gas prices.

One-way tickets for the pair were only $35, she said -- the cost of about one fill-up for an SUV.

“And it takes about the same time [by rail] as it does to drive there,” Fritzsche said.

Today is expected to be the busiest day of the year in Amtrak’s busiest week. Sarah Swain, an Amtrak spokeswoman in Oakland, said the rail line expected to serve nearly 600,000 passengers from Tuesday to Sunday afternoon.

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Times staff writer Hugo Martin contributed to this report.