Best And Worst Virginia Travel Times For Memorial Day Weekend: See AAA Forecast

VIRGINIA — If you're heading out of town for Memorial Day weekend, afternoons and evenings are times to avoid highways in Virginia.

AAA has released its annual holiday weekend travel forecast for Virginia and nationwide. This Memorial Day weekend, AAA predicts nearly 1.23 million will travel 50 or more miles. That's an estimated 2.5 percent increase from 2024 and slightly below the Virginia record of 1.24 million travelers in 2005. The forecast accounts for a five-day holiday weekend between Thursday, May 22, and Monday, May 26.

AAA noted the forecast represented the lowest annual growth of Memorial Day travelers since 2016.

"Economic uncertainties are top of mind for travelers right now," says Morgan Dean, the public and government affairs manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic in Virginia. "Despite those concerns, Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start to summer and for many Virginians that means a long weekend away from work and school at the coast, the bay, the lake, the mountains or at of Virginia's many tourist attractions."

The majority of Virginia's Memorial Day travelers — 1.08 million — will be getting around by car. That's above 1.06 million reported last year and the pre-pandemic year of 2019. AAA said the increase in road travel could be attributed to lower gas prices.

Virginia's gas price average is $3.03, less than the $3.46 average a year ago. In Northern Virginia alone, the average price is $3.12, down from $3.58 per gallon a year ago.

Other travel forecasts for Virginia include 104,854 travelers by plane (up 1.3 percent) and 37,775 (up 6.7 percent) on other methods of transport, such as buses, trains and cruise ships.

Nationally, AAA expects 45.1 million people to travel 50 or more miles for Memorial Day weekend, including 39.4 million on the roads, 3.6 million on flights and over 2 million on buses, trains and cruises. AAA booking data shows domestic flight prices are about 2 percent pricier than the same time last year. According to AAA, increases in other forms of travel are largely attributed to the popularity of cruises.

Best and Worst Travel Times

Transportation data analyst INRIX expects Washington, DC to be one of five U.S. metropolitan areas with the heaviest traffic. It recommends travelers on the roads head out during the morning.
Here are the best and worst travel times for Memorial Day weekend predicted by INRIX:

• Thursday, May 22: Worst time from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., best time before 12 p.m.
• Friday, May 23: Worst time from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., best time before 11 a.m.
• Saturday, May 24: Worst time from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., best time before 12 p.m.
• Sunday, May 25: Worst time from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., best time before 1 p.m.
• Memorial Day, Monday, May 26: Worst time from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., best time before 2 p.m.

The Virginia Department of Transportation has not released a specific forecast for best and worst times to travel on Virginia's interstates. However, travelers can check a holiday travel trends map that predicts locations of congestion by the hour based on historical data.

VDOT will lift most of its highway work zones and temporary road closures from Friday, May 23 to Tuesday, May 27 to accommodate the increased holiday travel. Semi-permanent work zones may remain in effect. Real-time traffic data is available through Virginia's 511 and by calling 511 within the state.

In Northern Virginia, drivers should be aware that the I-95 and I-395 Express Lanes summer reversal schedule begins on Thursday, May 22. The schedule will continue through Sept. 2.

The holiday weekend Express Lanes schedule is as follows:

• Thursday, May 22 and Friday, May 23: 10 a.m. reversal from northbound to southbound
• Saturday, May 24: 2 p.m. reversal from southbound to northbound
• Sunday, May 25 and Monday, May 26, Memorial Day: Lanes northbound all day
• Tuesday, May 27: 10 a.m. reversal from northbound to southbound

VDOT encourages travelers heading to Virginia Beach and North Carolina's Outer Banks from the peninsula to use the I-664 Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel as an alternative to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel due to construction.

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