Holiday Weekend Traffic Backup On I-15 Stretches 16 Miles

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to Las Vegas, and many of them drove here from California. Sunday's holiday traffic backup on I-15 Southbound was 16 miles long at one point.

According to an article written by Brett Clarkson on ReviewJournal.com, traffic cameras on I-15 showed cars packed into the southbound lanes "like sardines." By 11:30am Sunday morning, the traffic backup was 16 miles long. Digital reader boards on the freeway alerted drivers that it would take approximately two hours to get from the Las Vegas Strip to the California Inspection Station just over the border which divides the Golden State from the Silver State.

Per Clarkson's article for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the line of cars on I-15 Southbound was down to 12 miles long by about 3pm Sunday. By the evening hours, it was down to six miles. The backup was about two miles long by 7pm Sunday night.

Of course, holiday weekend traffic coming into Las Vegas or leaving our city after the celebration, is nothing new. In fact, leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Nevada State Police Highway Patrol Sargent Jason Buratczuk stated in an email that “It is not uncommon to have a 20 mile back up leaving Las Vegas.”

So, how was the holiday traffic at Harry Reid International Airport for those visitors who chose not to drive? Per Clarkson's article, airport spokesperson Joe Rajchel summed it up this way: “Busy, steady stream of people but nothing unexpected.” I guess they see big crowds just about every weekend here.

AAA Nevada predicted that this past Thanksgiving weekend "was expected to be one of the busiest for travel in the past two decades." I think folks are tired of having been cooped up in their homes for so many holidays the past couple of years. It sure looked like that on I-15 Southbound on Sunday.

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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.