Plan your Memorial Day escape with these local travel tips

More than 38 million people across the U.S. will travel this Memorial Day weekend.

It is the second highest number of travelers expected to get out of town on the long holiday kick off to summer since 2005.

Low fuel prices — the lowest they’ve been in 11 years — will spur most of that travel.

Around here, the operators of the E-Z Pass Express Lanes on Interstate 95 from North Stafford Alexandria are getting ready. Toll lanes operator Transurban says toll prices will be higher than average, drivers should pay attention to overhead warning signs, and that congestion on I-95’s travel lanes can lead to congestion in the Express Lanes at the southern terminus in Stafford County.

When to go:

The busiest getaway travel times on the regular I-95 lanes and the 95 Express Lanes before Memorial

Day weekend in 2015 were Thursday and Friday between noon and 6 p.m. Delays were worse on

Friday. We expect those periods will again face the heaviest travel volumes

To avoid higher-than-average tolls and peak traffic, drivers should depart before noon on Thursday or after 6 p.m. on Friday

On the road:

An advisory sign before the Quantico/Joplin Road exit will alert Express Lanes drivers to any delays ahead on the Lanes

Drivers can then decide whether to exit the Lanes at Joplin Road or continue to the end of the 95

Express Lanes near Garrisonville Road

If delays increase, signage before the Joplin Road exit will advise travelers to exit to the regular lanes

Express Assist crews will be available to help drivers who get stuck on the Lanes

Riding with family or friends? If you have at least two passengers in your vehicle, don’t forget to put your E-ZPass® FlexSM in HOV mode for a toll-free trip

Here’s the northbound / southbound schedule fro the lanes for the holiday weekend:

The 95 Express Lanes reversal schedule will be adjusted for holiday getaway traffic and to accommodate the Rolling Thunder event on Sunday, May 29. Here’s what drivers can expect:

Thursday, May 26: Southbound reversal begins one hour earlier at 10 a.m.

Friday, May 27: Southbound reversal begins one hour earlier at 10 a.m.

Saturday, May 28: Normal operations – Lanes reverse to northbound at 2 p.m.

Sunday, May 29: Northbound Lanes will close around 7:30 a.m. The Rolling Thunder event will access the Lanes via Opitz Boulevard with the support of Express Assist crews. The Lanes will open around 11 a.m. again in the northbound direction

Monday, May 30: Express Lanes remain northbound all day

Tuesday, May 31: Normal operations – southbound reversal begins around 11 a.m. with Lanes opening by 1 p.m.

For those staying close to home and taking Metro, the subway will operate on a Sunday schedule on Memorial Day with the first Blue and Orange line trains leaving the station at 7 a.m. and the last Orange line train arriving at the Vienna station at 12:35 a.m. and the last Blue line train leaving arriving in Springfield at 12:44 a.m.