Weekend traveling

A record number of New England residents are expected to hop in their cars and hit the highways this Memorial Day weekend. Two million people will travel for the holiday in the Northeast and almost 90 percent of them are expected to drive.

A record number of New England residents are expected to hop in their cars and hit the highways this Memorial Day weekend.

Two million people will travel for the holiday in the Northeast and almost 90 percent of them are expected to drive, according to projections prepared by AAA.

It’s no wonder, either, with largely warm and sunny weather expected across Connecticut each day through the long weekend.

High temperatures will be in the 70s on Friday and Saturday and into the 80s on Sunday and Monday with the only chance of rain overnight Saturday, far away from infringing on families’ daytime hours on the beach or town parades, according to the National Weather Service.

The expected record number of drivers comes even as gas prices remain relatively high at about $3 per gallon on average across Connecticut, said Amy Parmenter, AAA spokesperson for the Hartford area.

“The good news is that consumer confidence is up, folks have a little bit of extra money in their pocket and they’ve decided to spend that money on travel,” she said. “Gas prices are not really influencing the go or no-go decision. Even though prices are relatively high, we still have a record number of people traveling.”

All those cars in the area quickly will clog highways Friday afternoon, however, as travelers and those ducking out of work early hit the road at about the same time, Parmenter said.

The very worst traffic in New England is expected Monday in Boston, where travel could take up to three times longer than normal, AAA predicted.

Drivers aren’t the only growing group of travelers, though, with another 154,000 New Englanders planning to fly this

weekend, Parmenter said. That marks the fourth consecutive year of increased air travel and represents a 4 percent increase over the number of airline passengers during Memorial Day weekend last year.

Those who are driving will see increased Connecticut State Police patrols throughout the weekend trying to keep things orderly and crack down on speeding, seat belt use and illegal use of cellphones in the car, police said. Troopers also will conduct roving patrols along all of the state’s main highways to stop driving under the influence.

During Memorial Day weekend last year, state police arrested 38 drunk drivers, charged 909 motorists with speeding, caught 396 with seat belt violations and issued 2,708 hazardous moving violations, state police said. Troopers also investigated 313 motor vehicle accidents, including 62 injuries and one fatality.

Even among those who obeyed the law, AAA had to help 3,500 stranded drivers in just the greater Hartford area alone during last year’s Memorial Day weekend, Parmenter said.

A full 10 percent of those calls were just for people who had locked themselves out of their cars, she noted. Most of the rest were for other preventable issues that could be taken care of in advance with a replacement car battery, oil change or check up at the mechanic, she said.

“Slowing down can actually save you a little bit of time in that case,” Parmenter said. “So slow down and get to your destination as safely as possible.”

Zach Murdock can be reached at zmurdock@ courant.com.