Thanksgiving travel 2018: These are the best routes to and from Greenville

Traffic volume is projected to hit a 13-year high this Thanksgiving, with peaks on the Wednesday before the holiday and the Sunday after, which is the busiest travel day of the year, according to AAA.

About 730,000 South Carolinians and 1.4 million North Carolinians will travel 50 miles or more between Wednesday, Nov. 21, and Sunday, Nov. 25, AAA predicts. That would be the busiest Thanksgiving for travel since 2005, and 90 percent of those travelers will be driving to their destinations, according to AAA.

Here are some alternate routes to popular destinations, and general tips for getting where you're going this Thanksgiving, whether you're visiting family or friends out of town or getting back to Greenville after the holiday.

Within the Carolinas

If you're driving within South Carolina, the normal route between Greenville and Columbia — Interstate 385 to Interstate 26 — usually isn't too bad, said Rusty Barnes, who has extensive driving experience as a logistics manager with Greenville-based trucking company Palmetto State Transportation.

That's still probably the best way to get to the capitol, as is I-26 if you're going to Charleston, he said. Going back roads likely won't end up saving you any time, he said.

If you're headed to Charlotte, Interstate 85 may be your best bet as well, though if it's really backed up, U.S. 29 runs parallel with it and connects to U.S. 74, which could be an alternative.

Hey Greenville,

Thanks for taking time to read this article. We enjoy providing you news and updates about our great community. If you enjoy or value this article, please consider subscribing to The Greenville News. 

To get to the Raleigh-Durham area and avoid Interstate 95, you can take Interstate 20 from Columbia and then head up U.S. 15 to U.S. 501. Alternatively, you could get to Fayetteville, North Carolina, by taking a similar route to U.S. 15 and then getting on U.S. 401.

It may be better in general to get off I-95 or Interstate 40 in North Carolina, taking either U.S. 301 to go north-south or U.S. 64 or U.S. 74 to go east-west, said Steve Abbott, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

“The major routes get clogged," he said.

To the Northeast

A pretty universal piece of advice if you're heading anywhere in the northeast or mid-Atlantic is to take Interstate 81 instead of I-95. 

“I would always go 81 over 95," Barnes said.

To get there, you can take I-85 to Interstate 77 in Charlotte and then take that to southwestern Virginia to get on I-81, which runs north along Virginia's western spine and continues up through western Pennsylvania and into northwestern New York.

This is one way to get to New England states that avoids I-95 as well, and you can pick up Interstate 84 near Scranton, Pennsylvania, and take that up through Connecticut. It's a great route and very scenic, Barnes said.

Further south, you can also pick up Interstate 66 to get from I-81 to the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore areas. Or, to get to Richmond and the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, you can pick up Interstate 64 or U.S. 460.

And if you want to stay off I-81, a third alternative for going north is to take U.S. 29, which you can pick up in Greensboro, North Carolina, or take straight from Greenville to avoid I-85 traffic. It intersects with I-64, which will take you into Richmond and Hampton Roads, and also continues onto Culpeper on the western fringe of the Washington, D.C., suburbs, where you can take U.S. 15 to I-66.

U.S. 29 does have some traffic lights on it, as it runs through small-town central Virginia, but it is normally light on traffic and very scenic, Barnes said. 

To the Midwest

One of the big roads to try and avoid heading into the Midwest during this heavy traffic period is Interstate 75 going north-south, Barnes said. A good alternative is U.S. 23, which you can take from Asheville up through eastern Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio, all the way to Michigan. 

Barnes also recommended skirting I-40 and especially an area called "the Gorge" near Newport, Tennessee. It's typically congested, and the holiday traffic makes it even worse, he said.

Southbound

If you're headed somewhere in the South, chances are most routes will lead through Atlanta via I-85. If that's the way the map takes you, it's best to follow that, Barnes said, as there's not a great off-interstate alternative around the Georgia capitol that will save time, with many two-lane roads and lots of turns. 

If you're staying east of Atlanta, though, a good road north or south is U.S. 25, Barnes said, which runs from Greenville through Augusta, Georgia, and then connects to U.S. 301 at Statesboro, Georgia. U.S. 301 then runs deep down across Florida and will get you to Tampa.

In general

There are a number of mobile phone traffic apps that you can download as well for traffic updates on your journey. The 511 South Carolina Traffic application is free to download — that will be your best resource for finding alternate routes in the Palmetto State, said Pete Poore, spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation.

“That’s real-time stuff," he said.

North Carolina puts road updates on DriveNC.gov, where you can check on any road across the state and look for alternate routes if you get stuck in traffic, Abbott said.

More:These places will make your Thanksgiving a breeze by providing part, or all, of the meal

Within North Carolina, most construction-related lane closures along interstate and U.S. highway routes will be halted beginning the Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving until the following Monday morning, he said.

More:Hurricane season isn’t over for the Carolinas. Another storm could hit the East Coast

Abbott also suggested driving during off-peak times, if possible — Wednesday afternoon and evening, Saturday and Sunday. There will be less traffic driving overnight and on Friday, he said.

Have any other suggestions you think should have been included here? You can email them to reporter Gabe Cavallaro at gcavallaro@greenvillenews.com. Safe travels!

You can connect with Gabe on Twitter @gabe_cavallaro or facebook.com/cavallarogabe.