DRIVE-HEAVY HOLIDAY LIKELY TO CLOG ROADS FLIGHT-FRIGHT SHIFTS TRAVEL STRATEGIES.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - With more people choosing to drive rather than travel by air, officials anticipate 800,000 vehicles will pass through the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. over the Thanksgiving weekend. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA), federation of American automobile clubs, est. 1902. AAA provides a number of benefits to its members, including emergency road service; national and international travel assistance, e.g. , 87 percent of all travelers over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend will be driving - many to the top destinations of San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. , San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and Anaheim's Disneyland, which are all reached by the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. , which crosses the valley. ``You will see a lot of passing traffic,'' said Marie Montgomery of Auto Club. Still, an Auto Club survey shows that even though travelers are opting for the road, there will be a 1.6 percent decrease in the number of motorists compared with last year. ``This is the first time that we will actually have fewer drivers,'' Montgomery said. ``But it's a very small percentage. We're anticipating almost the same.'' Each year, the Auto Club conducts a telephone survey about two weeks before making travel estimations to ask people about their plans. Using the survey results as well as monitoring travel trends, officials said air travel definitely will be down - by about 27 percent. With the public still nervous about flying since the Sept. 11 attacks, even strict airport security measures aren't luring travelers back. ``If you are going to San Francisco, now you have to arrive two hours in advance instead of half an hour,'' Montgomery said. ``You're adding that to your trip and you have to do that both ways. So instead of being a two-hour trip, it may take as much as four hours. ``People are seeing that it may be faster to drive.'' The Auto Club advises motorists to check road conditions before starting their trips. Officials also advise motorists to lay travel plans in advance, bring along a map in case they need to take another route, make sure their car is in good running condition, bring along chains if traveling in areas where it might snow, and pack plenty of drinks and activities for youngsters. Today's and Sunday's afternoons likely will see the heaviest traffic, and motorists are advised to plan their trips around those times. |
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