Drivers hit Tampa Bay area highways ahead of Thanksgiving

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — As more and more bleary-eyed drivers rubbed the sleep off their faces, opened their blanket-covered doors and walked to the I-275 South rest stop near Wesley Chapel as the sun rose on Wednesday morning, they awoke to what’s expected to be the busiest travel day pre-Thanksgiving.

“It’s been wonderful,” said Boyce Helms. “I enjoy it, I really do.”

At this rest stop, plenty of drivers spent the night, like North Carolina resident Boyce Helms, who spread out on top of his Harley Davidson, wrapped in a blanket and the motorcycle cover.

“I do it every time I take off of a motorcycle, I sleep on this thing,” Helms explained. “I got it figured out pretty well where I can get comfortable.”

Helms said he started out a couple of days ago and plans to meet friends in Fort Myers later on Wednesday.

Others, like Melissa Ziegler, her husband, her mom, and their dogs got an early start out of Ocala.

“So far, smooth sailing,” Ziegler said. “We left about 6 o’clock this morning, haven’t hit any traffic. We’ll see if that continues.”

She’s already planning her drive back on Sunday.

“I kind of figure if we leave a little bit later, that way we can do some stuff on the boat, go sightsee a little bit more on Sunday, it’s only a four-hour drive for us,” Ziegler said. “Then, hopefully, everybody that’s leaving early out of Tampa, Fort Myers area will have already headed north and be a little less traffic.”

Both travelers are part of millions of Floridians traveling for the holiday. AAA expects this to be the second busiest Thanksgiving ever.

“There’s going to be 87,000 more Florida travelers than last year’s Thanksgiving,” said spokesperson Mark Jenkins. “So, you know what that means, right? More congestion on the roadways and longer lines at the airports.”