ATLANTA — The July 4th holiday travel period is well underway, and travelers face challenges at the airport and on the road.
Parking at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport is at a premium as construction crews continue to occupy the area that once had 3,000 spaces. The new parking deck at the South Economy lot won’t open for another year.
Off-site lots are bulging at the seams. Archie Bostic delivers travelers to the International Terminal at Hartsfield Jackson after they’ve parked their cars at Fast Park and Relax on Charles W. Grant Parkway.
Lately, he hasn’t had much time to relax.
“Extremely busy,” said Bostic. “It started Mother’s Day, then graduations, kid’s getting out of school. It kept continuously going.”
Manager David Hite says there have been numerous days leading up to the 4th of July when Fast Park and Relax went into “reservation only” mode.
“This is the second summer in a row,” said Hite. “Last summer we had only six days where we were not reservations only, and this summer is heading in the same direction.”
Once you get to the airport, prepare for long waits at security checkpoints.
The TSA expects to screen more than 28 million travelers nationwide over an eleven-day period ending July 8, a 5% increase over last year.
Four million of those air passengers will travel through Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson with more than 300,000 on both July 7 and 8.
AAA predicts a record 60 million road trips nationwide. For the third consecutive year, Georgia is expected to see an Independence Day weekend record of two million families spending time on the road.
According to traffic data analysts at Intrix, the worst congestion will be on the day before Independence Day and the Sunday after. The number of cars on I-20 between Birmingham and Atlanta could increase by 42%.
GDOT says drivers should expect periods of heavy traffic on Interstate 20 heading into Atlanta and leaving the city toward South Carolina. Interstate 75 through Henry County will be busy in both directions.
At Fast Park and Relax, Archie Bostic plans to keep hopping all the way through the summer and quite possibly well beyond.