Thousands of New Jerseyans hit the roads for the Jersey Shore ahead of July 4 holiday
Police say there will be extra patrols out on the roadways throughout the holiday weekend.
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Thousands of people hit the roadways across New Jersey on Wednesday ahead of the Independence Day holiday.
"This year there’s more traffic than ever. I don't know what causes that. I just notice people don’t pay attention to the yield sign," said Billy Gerris, owner of Cabinet Creations and Customer Interiors in Wall Township.
Gerris has a front-row seat to the daily chaos at the busy, and sometimes, confusing traffic circle at Route 34 and Allaire Road while selling kitchen cabinets.
"About 6,000 cars come by here every day. Every day,” he says.
"As usual, there will be an increase in traffic all over the area and be on the lookout for distracted driving, impaired driving, just to name a few," said Wall Township Police Chief Sean O'Halloran.
On the Garden State Parkway, there were no issues Wednesday morning for people who got an early start.
"It’s about a four-hour drive so I’m halfway. So far so good and I’m trying to get in before the evening traffic because I think it will be pretty heavy," said David Kaplan, of Albany, New York.
"Roads have been pretty good, you know, we got a little bit more traffic here but nothing crazy," said Dale Foss, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
"We will have extra patrols all this weekend like we normally do and we just want to make sure our residents and guests get home safely," added O'Halloran.
AAA urges drivers to head out before noon on Thursday to get ahead of the traffic. Waiting for Friday and Saturday to hit the roads? It’s best before 10 a.m., according to AAA.
