It should be a busy summer on Brainerd area roadways

BRAINERD — If traffic for the Minnesota fishing opener was any indication, it looks to be a busy weekend on Brainerd area roads this summer.

And that’s what state travel, tourism and law enforcement officials believe, too — and not just for the Brainerd lakes area but across the state and county.

Meredith Mitts, public affairs specialist with AAA-The Auto Club Group for Minnesota and Iowa, said according to a recent AAA travel survey, 83% of Minnesotans plan to travel this year. That compares to 72% in 2022 and 67% in 2021.

Reasons for the increase in travel cited in the survey included people having more disposable income, lifting of international travel restrictions and feeling more comfortable doing so in the third year following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People have had this pent up demand to travel the last couple of years that we were shut down,” Mitts said.

In fact, AAA is expecting travel over the 2023 Memorial Day weekend to be the third busiest since 2001 with 42.3 million Americans expected to travel more than 50 miles from home, a 7% increase from 2022. Those numbers trail only 2019, with 42.8 million Americans traveling over the weekend, and 2005, with 44 million travelers.

“Because there are so many people traveling, if you haven’t made travel plans yet it’s a good idea to get on that sooner rather than later,” Mitts said. “Because so many people are traveling, it’s going to take longer. So whether that’s driving and sitting in a little bit more traffic, especially around holiday weekends, or if you are flying and need to make it through bag check and then security, just plan some extra time and extra wiggle room for the heightened amount of people traveling.”

According to AAA, the most popular vacations Minnesotans are planning are:

• 48% – Lake destinations,
• 40% – national/state park,
• 34% – city/major metro destination,
• 22% – Beach destinations.

Out of 125 responses as of Thursday to a poll at www.brainerddispatch.com asking, “Do you plan on traveling for a vacation this summer?” 46% said no, 40% said yes and 14% were unsure.

While gas prices moved lower in recent weeks, AAA reported it’s too early to know if that downward trend will continue in the lead-up to the summer kick-off with Memorial Day weekend. However, it’s unlikely prices will come anywhere near the state average holiday travelers paid last year of $4.24 per gallon in Minnesota. Currently the statewide and Brainerd area average price for gas was $3.49 a gallon, though some area gas stations were charging as low as $3.14 for a gallon of gas Thursday.

For Minnesota State Patrol troopers, summers are always a busy time on area highways, said Sgt. Jesse Grabow, state patrol public information officer. The state patrol refers to that period — from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend — as the 100 busiest travel days of the year.

“In particular there’s obviously a lot going on with school being out, people taking the family trips, the family vacations, going to the lakes, fishing, all those things,” Grabow said. “With that much more traffic we do at times see more things happening on the highway, such as crashes and things like that. … During that time that’s generally when we see an increase in the amount of serious injuries and fatal type crashes.”

More traffic means more potential for something to go wrong, Grabow said, adding it's important for every driver to do their part to try to avoid problems.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years and it just seems like traffic is always picking up out there as far as what we encounter,” he said. “Most people are safe and smart drivers but we’ve got to remember we share the roadway with a number of other people making those poor choices, destructive decisions, whether it’s impaired driving, alcohol, drugs, distracted driving, whatever that might be.”

Increased traffic means heightened law enforcement presence on area roadways in the summer months. Grabow said troopers and other area law enforcement officers will be conducting several Toward Zero Deaths campaigns this summer targeting seat belt use, distracted driving, impaired driving and aggressive driving.

The goal of the campaigns, he said, is enforcement as opposed to tickets for violations.

“We do see an increase in the amount of those types of violations,” in the summer, Grabow said. “Those are kind of the fatal four factors when we look at our crashes and that’s a big target of what we’re trying to provide — that outreach, that education. But again, we can provide the enforcement but we’d rather have the conversation here than along the roadside.”

Another area that warrants special attention will be construction zones, and the Brainerd area has plenty of them. Mitts advised motorists to slow down, take their time and give themselves space in work zones.

“We want to make sure everyone has a safe summer and can go home to their friends and families and celebrate the summer together,” Mitts said.

Grabow echoed those sentiments, and added increased following distance and avoiding road rage incidents as additional measures motorists can employ.

“The biggest thing is any time you are traveling and with more traffic out there and congestion and things like that, I think some of the best things to have when you are traveling is just patience. A little bit of patience will go a long way,” Grabow said. “All you can ultimately do is control what is going on in your vehicle and to be the safest driver you can be to protect yourself and the people you are traveling with.”

Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch

MATT ERICKSON, editor, may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 218-855-5857.