CHARLTON, Mass. - This Memorial Day Weekend is expected to see a record-breaking amount of travelers who are ready to start their summer celebrations and still waiting on warm weather. 

What You Need To Know

  • AAA projects 45.1 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the Memorial Day holiday period.

  • This year’s domestic travel forecast is an increase of 1.4 million travelers compared to last year, and sets a new Memorial Day weekend record

  • Travelers hoping to avoid the heaviest traffic over the Memorial Day weekend should hit the road in the morning, according to transportation data provider INRIX

Despite a little rain and traffic on Friday, travelers on the MassPike are excited for Memorial Day Weekend.

“Gordo loves to travel. He's very good. He loves to camp," Ruthanne Weissman said about her dog. "We do a lot of camping, and he loves to camp because he loves being outside.”

Gordo and Ruthanne Weissman are among the millions hitting the road for the holiday.

“We expect to set a record for the number of travelers this Memorial Day holiday," AAA Northeast Senior Spokesperson Mark Schieldrop said, "with 45.1 million people traveling.”

Schieldrop said AAA expects 87% of people traveling for the weekend will be in a car and more than one million drivers will go through Massachusetts; including the Weissman’s.

“We are from Charlemont, which is Western Mass. near Shelburne Falls," Weissman said. "And we're headed to Hull, which is a little peninsula, Nantasket Beach.”

“Your typical road trip is about 50 miles or more. Maybe a couple hundred miles," Schieldrop said. "Generally, it's a holiday where, people tend to hop in the car and drive for a few hours so you can kind of draw a nice circle around New England and kind of look at that as sort of the core zone where most travel occurs.”

Whether people are headed to the Berkshires or the Boston Harbor Schieldrop said the rain isn’t impacting their travel number projections.

“Despite the weather, I think a lot of folks are still determined to travel," Schieldrop said. "They booked these trips long ago, even last year. So, there's a lot of pent-up demand to get out and kick off the summer driving season.”

“I wish it were warmer. I totally do," Weissman said. "I mean, look at me. I'm wearing gloves and it's May.”

And as the weather will soon feel more like summer, Schieldrop says summer traffic kicks off with Memorial Day.

“That certainly bodes well for high traffic volumes on the roadways," Schieldrop said. "Particularly in the peak times in the afternoon and especially on Friday as well as Monday afternoon as people make their way back home.”

“It is pretty crowded. It’s very crowded," Weissman said about the roads on Friday afternoon. "But you know what? We're taking our time. We don't care. When we get there, we get there.”