More than 160,000 people are expected to travel through Denver International Airport today, as the Thanksgiving weekend winds down.
“This is going to be our busiest day of the week, but that is right in line with traffic (any day) in July, by far the heaviest month,” said DIA spokesman Jeff Green.
Traffic is moving smoothly at the airport, Green said, with waiting time at security checkpoints averaging about 10 to 12 minutes before 10 a.m.
The number of travellers is expected to thin out slightly later this morning and pick up again after 1 p.m.
“The (Transportation Security Administration) is staffed for it so as long as they keep their lanes open from early in the morning they can stay ahead of it,” Green said.
Colorado’s highways are also expected to be busy today, said Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stacey Stegman.
“We expect it to start to pick up around 2,” she said.
The heaviest traffic flow will be coming from the mountains on Interstate 70 and on I-25, she said.
Last year, 33,675 vehicles flowed through the Eisenhower Tunnel on the Sunday following Thanksgiving.
The number was similar the day before but heavier on the Wednesday preceding the holiday, 44,891, Stegman said. “Usually the Wednesday is more heavily travelled than that Sunday, it is not the usual pattern you see on ski weekends.”
Colorado State Patrol Sgt. John Hahn said the patrol anticipates heavy travel but so far this morning “there has been nothing out of the ordinary.”
Tom McGhee: (303)954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
