Busy beaches expected over Memorial Day weekend

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – AAA predicts more than 37-million people will travel more than 50 miles over Memorial Day weekend, and Jacksonville’s beaches are expected to bring a crowd.

With the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, many people are getting a shot and plan to enjoy the outdoors.

And with any holiday weekend comes precautionary measures. Jacksonville Beach police are among the dozens of law enforcement agencies paying close attention to Click It or Ticket -- a high visibility enforcement effort designed to detect violators of Florida’s traffic laws.

“We are still doing enforcement for everything else we are just paying particular attention to seat belts,” said Officer D. Turpin, with Jacksonville Beach police.

People who are traveling by air have been waiting for this moment.

“I am going to see my cousin and one of my cousins I’ve never seen yet,” said a traveler at Jacksonville International Airport.

Nine-thousand outbound travelers are expected to leave the airport Friday.

AAA said nearly 2.5 million Americans will take plane trips, nearly six times more than the same period in 2020. It estimates 34 million Americans plan driving trips between May 27 and May 31, a 52% increase over last year. A small number will take buses or trains.


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