Thanksgiving Travel: Midwest Fog, New York Train Trouble
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — As Americans continued to their holiday destinations Wednesday, train issues in New York City were added to the mix of inclement weather and airport strikes threatening to put a damper on Thanksgiving travels for some.
Service on the Long Island Railroad, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak to and from Pennsylvania Station were temporarily suspended Wednesday evening because of switching problems, according to ABC station WABC-TV.
In the Pacific Northwest, travelers had a soggy ride. Up to 10 inches of rain have fallen this week in parts of Oregon, up to nine inches in Washington, and 6.5 inches in Northern California.
In Oregon, this was in some places a record rainstorm. A third storm system is moving through the West Wednesday, producing more rain, but it will not be as heavy as Monday’s rainfall.
Approximately 39 million of Wednesday’s travelers were hitting the road by car, according to the AAA. Motorists along the East Coast faced heavy traffic, but most of the weather looked calm from New York to Atlanta, with temperatures in the 50s in the Northeast and near 70 in Georgia.
Dense fog that rolled into the Midwest from Chicago to Texas Tuesday night caused traffic delays across the area.
At Chicago’s Midway Airport, Angieang28 tweeted that fliers were “packed like sardines.”
The top five cities bracing for the worst traffic Wednesday were: New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, and the most tangled roads will be in Los Angeles, with holiday road trips predicted to take 33 percent longer than usual.
And that’s not the only headache in Los Angeles. Airport union workers were preparing to strike at LAX. The workers, who are angry over terminated union contracts and health insurance, admit they could not have picked a worse day or a busier airport.
“It’s a national day about being with your family and taking care of your family, and these workers are not able to do that,” said Andrew Gross Gaitan of the SEIU United Service Workers West.
Job actions are not just in California. Angry workers are picketing coast-to-coast: from Chicago’s O’Hare airport to New York’s JFK to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
There is, however a silver lining for motorists, as gas prices are down 5 cents in the last two weeks. The Energy Department reported the national average for a gallon of regular fuel was $3.41.
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