Best and worst times to travel this Christmas

COLUMBUS - Highways across Ohio will be busy with holiday travelers this Christmas. AAA is predicting a record number of Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home with the vast majority of them driving to their destination.

Our ODOT Transportation Systems Management & Operations (TSMO) program crunched the numbers and compared delay hours for "average" days in December and compared them to Christmas travel days from previous years. Because Christmas falls on a Thursday, we're expecting a more spread-out travel schedule as opposed to a spike as seen around other major travel holidays.

Before you hit the road, be sure to plan ahead by using OHGO - Ohio's official travel portal. There, you'll have access to more than 1,300 traffic cameras, live traffic alerts, speed maps, weather sensors, and construction project locations.

While ODOT works to reduce the size and scope of work zones during travel holiday periods, there will still be orange barrels in places like I-70 west, through, and east of Columbus and in Zanesville. You'll also find work zones on I-75 in the Cincinnati and Dayton metro areas and on I-90 west of downtown Cleveland.