Marylanders Prepare To Hit The Road For Memorial Day Weekend

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It will soon feel like many of us are on the road this weekend, as Marylanders head out of town for Memorial Day weekend.

As Christie Ileto explains, it might be life in the slow lane for some of us traveling this weekend.

Prices at the pump, sequestration, traffic gridlock or not, AAA says Marylanders will be on the move this Memorial Day.

"Slightly over 718,000 Marylanders will be on the move this Memorial day," said Ragina Averella.

AAA says that's down almost two percent from last year and 91% of Marylanders will travel by car, rather than paying to take a plane or train.

"Particularly the sequester, which we know is impacting many families across the country, as well as here in Maryland," said Averella.

But driving comes at a price. Gas is higher than last week but 12 cents lower than this time last year.

Many Marylanders are expected to drive the Bay Bridge this weekend; many of them say Ocean City is their destination. Ocean City's tourism department says about 200,000 people will visit this weekend.

"Right now, our advance reservations are looking very strong for the summer months," said Ocean City Tourism Director Donna Abbott.

Ocean City is expecting a good summer after recovering from Superstorm Sandy. Friday, the iconic fishing pier will be back. But as people flock to the beach, traffic increases and so will police presence.

"We're beefing up patrols this weekend all over the state and troopers will be issuing citations for aggressive driving and speeding and making arrests for drunk driving," said Major Clifford Hughes.

The message before you hit the road is to have fun but be safe.