Here comes a holiday weekend in Michigan. Memorial Day weekend is a very busy time for travelers in our state. With so much amazing scenery, water and things to do it's no surprise that the roadways get clogged. Pair that with construction zones and it can make for an ugly mess.

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The Detroit Free Press says that it will be busy this weekend:

This Memorial Day weekend, over 1.2 million Michiganders are expected to travel 50 miles or more via car, plane or other means of transportation, according to AAA's 2023 Memorial Day Travel Forecast.

Interstate Highway Traffic Flows Arouund Detroit Michigan Metro Area
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Here are some things that you won't want to do, based on my own personal experience. I am not a fan of traffic. I despise traffic. I always thought that if I get up early, hit the road early in the morning to my desination, I'd be in good shape. Sadly, I am a moron. This brilliant idea I had, apparently thousands of other drivers had the same idea. Leaving early to "beat traffic" can backfire quickly into your trip.

Trip Advisor offers this tip:

We have found that the trick to traveling on the holiday weekend is to leave at the end of the day. Most people get up to get and early start to "beat the traffic" and instead are all on the road together. We used to leave in the evening and usually didn't hit all the traffic.

Last year my wife and I decided to go to Marquette for Labor Day weekend. It was an impromptu trip. We made the decision to go to Marquette on Friday (the Friday of Labor Day weekend) at 4pm and were on the road by 6pm. I was hesitant because I thought traffic would be ridiculous. As it turns out it was a smart move because most of the northbound traffic had happened earlier in the day.

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I will be leaving later when heading north nowadays. Have a great weekend and a safe one too.

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