Road work near airport

Holiday travelers should beware of construction

As Thanksgiving holiday travelers hit the road, look out for road construction around Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee.

Howell Avenue along the west side of the airport is being reconstructed, along with part of the intersection of Layton and Howell avenues, said Pat Rowe, a spokeswoman for the Milwaukee County-owned airport.

That means folks coming to the airport to drop off or pick up passengers, or who are flying out of town themselves, might want to avoid Howell.

Instead, airport officials are recommending travelers take I-94 and use the Airport Spur or take 6th or 13th streets to Grange Ave.

“Howell Avenue is open, it’s just congested with only two traffic lanes,” Rowe said via email.

Gas prices fall

For those traveling by car or SUV for the Thanksgiving holiday, gasoline prices have fallen as forecast.

In Wisconsin, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.51 a gallon on Monday, with the lowest prices in the southeast and the highest in the north and northwest, according to travel organization AAA.

The average price in Kenosha County was down to $2.35 on Monday while the average price in St. Croix County, which borders Minnesota, was $2.67. Iron County in far northern Wisconsin was $2.83.

Prices were even lower in Milwaukee, with several stations on the city’s south side posting prices of $2.18 a gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy.com.

Thanksgiving travelers are being encouraged to look around to find the lowest pump prices.

“With gas prices decreasing in nearly every city, every day since mid-October, travelers should be shopping around to find the stations that have passed along the big savings,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a statement.

It might actually pay to fill up before you leave.

“When it comes time to fill-up during the trip, motorists should keep in mind that gas stations along highly traveled routes may find prices more expensive than in-town,” Jeanette Casselano, a AAA spokesperson, said in a statement.

Holiday travel already started

Meanwhile, some holiday travelers have already hit the road.

Several colleges have already sent students home for Thanksgiving, Brad Wallace, sales and marketing manager for Go Riteway Commercial Services, said in an email.

Go Riteway operates airport shuttles.

“We take care of a few universities in Wisconsin and Illinois, and the students start their journeys home on Friday and continue departing right up until what is typically known as the busiest travel day of the year,” the day before Thanksgiving, Wallace said.

“While their departures are spread over a few days before Thanksgiving, the following Sunday is extremely busy with their return,” Wallace added.

But since business travel tends to slow during the Thanksgiving period, “we’re able to allocate our driving corps accordingly for anticipated surges in demand,” Wallace said.

An estimated 54.3 million people will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, according to AAA.

In Wisconsin, 1.12 million people are expected to travel during the Wednesday-to-Sunday period. Of those, about 999,000 will travel by passenger vehicle.