Worst Times to Drive in Rochester This Memorial Weekend

Is there anything more Minnesotan than packing up the car and heading up north to the lake for the Memorial Day weekend? Here's what to expect if you're hitting the road this weekend in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, including the worst times to be on the highway.

AAA Predicts Record Memorial Day Travel in Minnesota

If you and the family *are* heading out of town this Memorial weekend, you won't be alone. Travel site AAA projects a record-breaking 44.95 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home over Memorial Day weekend this year, just over the previous high set last year, when 44.79 million people set out traveling.

Here in our neck of the woods in AAA's West North Central region, which includes Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and the Dakotas, approximately 3.7 million residents are expected to travel during some time over the Memorial weekend.

ALSO INTERESTING: Popular Bar/Restaurant Closing Permanently at MSP Airport 

Worst Times To Drive in Minnesota This Memorial Weekend

So if you are heading out on the highways here in the Bold North, the worst times to drive are anticipated to be Thursday, May 21, from 12 PM to 9 PM; Friday, May 22, from 11 AM to 8 PM; and again on Monday, May 25, from 12 PM to 5 PM. To avoid the heaviest traffic, AAA recommends leaving during the morning hours or later in the evening on those days.

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Minnesota Gas Prices Are Much Higher Than Last Year

And wherever you're going this weekend, it will definitely cost you more than it did last year. AAA Minnesota says the current average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Rochester is around $4.49. That's $1.28 MORE than we were paying in 2025, when the average price in the Med City was $3.11 per gallon.

While MSP airport near Bloomington hasn't released specific projections for 2026, in previous years, about 35,000 passengers went through TSA checkpoints both Thursday and Friday of the Memorial Day Weekend. That's busy, not quite as busy as spring break when the airport saw about 50,000 travelers each day on March 26th and 27th, as I wrote in a story from earlier this year.

Meanwhile, if you are traveling this weekend, watch out for extra speed enforcement, as the Minnesota Department of Public Safety launched an enhanced crackdown on speeders earlier this spring. And keep scrolling to see just which cars are more likely to be pulled over for speeding here in Minnesota as well!