Holiday travel rush coming to a close

EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — AAA says Saturday will be the last busy holiday travel day, with many people returning from their Christmas destinations or heading out for the New Year.

28/22 News spoke with drivers on Friday in Wilkes-Barre Township about the traffic they saw this holiday season.

“You ever see a traffic jam in New York during rush hour,” asked Frank Capozzi, of Nanticoke.

Native New Yorker Frank Capozzi currently resides in Nanticoke, but he’s spent many years in the Big Apple dealing with bumper-to-bumper backups.

For Frank Nepa holiday traffic is nothing to write home about, and he’s had his fair share of holiday travel this year.

“Yeah, I went to East Orange, New Jersey twice. I went to Manhattan and then I also went down to Allentown the other day,” Capozzi added.

Another driver from Dallas says he also took a trip this Christmas.

“Left on Christmas morning to Altoona, Pennsylvania,” said Rich Hancuff, of Dallas.

“And did you hit any traffic on that,” asked reporter Amelia Sack.

“no, not on Christmas Day,” Hancuff responded.

But he says the holiday traffic build-up near the Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre Township, causes quite the headache.

“I pick and choose my times to drive up here. I try to avoid heavy traffic times. The design is not very good. Everyone’s coming off the highway into one place. Traffic backs up on the 309 exits too much,” Hancuff added.

Other drivers like James Liskowski from Pittston agree that traffic in that area can be frustrating to navigate during the holiday season.

“Yeah it gets pretty backed up, a lot of traffic, a lot of people trying to do shopping getting around,” Liskowski said.

If you’re planning on hitting the road this Saturday, AAA suggests getting your trip started before 12:00 p.m.

Again, Saturday will be the last busy travel day according to AAA as they expect minimal traffic on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.