4th of July 2009 News Release

What do the colors mean for drivers?

Traffic analysts looked at how many cars were on the road the past two Fourth of July weekends that started on a Friday. The vertical axis shows how many cars are projected to be on the road for each hour (shown on the horizontal axis). As the graphs turn from green to yellow, drivers can expect some congestion. At the hours shown as red, traffic analysts predict travel will reach capacity for that stretch of roadway. Once a roadway reaches capacity, any small incident can cause significant backups.

What about the black line?

The black line running from left to right show typical summer traffic. This gives drivers more information on how the Independence Day 2009 holiday weekend travel may relate to a typical summer weekend.

Check the graphs below to find the best times to travel on I-5 south of Olympia through Chehalis/Centralia.