Holiday escape starts as DUI checkpoints set up

The holiday get away has begun.

Hundreds of thousands are making their Memorial Day get away today headed for their favorite vacation spot.

And the Northern Virginia’s highways are feeling the brunt of the flood.

Southbound traffic is slow right now on Interstate 95 in Prince William County, from the Occoquan to the Stafford County line.

A crash this morning near Triangle in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 closed a portion of the road for more than an hour.

As the road was reopened traffic delays began to ease shortly thereafter, said Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.

Westbound traffic on I-66 is slow in Fairfax County, at the Beltway, but seems to be fairing better the farther west driver’s travel.

“Being a beautiful Friday of a holiday weekend, motorists can expect delays on I-95 throughout the Northern Virginia region for most of the day,” said Geller. “We ask drivers to be patient and be prepared for possible delays by giving themselves plenty of travel time to get to their destination.”

More residents in the Washington region are expected to leave home this Memorial Day weekend than last year, despite the recession.

AAA Mid-Atlantic predicts about 730,000 area residents will travel at least 50 miles from home over the three-day weekend, a 4 percent increase from last year.

The auto club says 83 percent of those travelers will drive to their destinations, thanks to gas prices that are about $1.50 cheaper than a year ago.

More travelers also will board airplanes this year, though AAA is predicting that rail and bus travel will drop by 10 percent.

Nationwide, Memorial Day weekend travel is expected to be up slightly over last year but still well below 2007 levels.

And for those who are opting to stay home this holiday weekend, police are telling drivers to beware.

Officers will be conducting sobriety checkpoints at various spots throughout Prince William County.

The effort will put more police officers on the streets over the weekend in an effort to draw attention to the dangers of drinking and driving.

“We are striving to ensure that the law-abiding citizens of Prince William County will be able to travel upon the roadways and highways in a safe manner,” said Prince William Police Chief Charlie T. Deane. “We want to make sure this is a safe Memorial Day Weekend for everyone.”

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.