CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Travelers took to the roads and the sky for holiday travel on Wednesday while troopers ramped up their efforts to keep local interstates safe.

Many people told Eyewitness News they were driving because it’s cheaper than flying. AAA is reporting the average for a gallon of unleaded in the Charlotte area is $2.64 a gallon. Gas was just $1.91 during the 2008 Thanksgiving holiday.

AAA Carolinas estimates about one out of eight North Carolina residents are hitting the road for Thanksgiving, with Wednesday traditionally the heaviest travel day of the year. The Charlotte-based travel services company said trips more than 50 miles from home are expected to rise about 2 percent from last year.

The state Transportation Department is suspending work on most road projects through the holidays.

One bottleneck could be the 50-mile detour for Interstate 40 traffic heading into Tennessee. An October rockslide about two miles from the border closed the road in both directions.

In expectation of more road travel, the South Carolina Highway Patrol put more troopers on the road for the weekend.

The patrol is bringing in troopers who normally work administrative jobs to help on the highways starting Wednesday. The emphasis will be on the busiest holiday travel days -- the day before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after the holiday.

AAA Carolinas is predicting 569,000 South Carolinians will travel more than 50 miles from home this year, also an increase of about 2 percent from 2008.

The patrol said its special team concentrating on driving under the influence cases will be on the roads throughout the holidays.

Experts expect air travel to be down about 7 percent this Thanksgiving holiday because of higher prices. Travelers at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport said they were looking forward to fewer travelers, but lines began building up at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Troopers Catch Speeders, People Not Wearing Seat Belts

An $80 speeding ticket is not how you want to begin your Thanksgiving holiday travel, and those are the cheapest ones.

By late Wednesday, troopers in York County, S.C., had written almost 200 tickets. About a third of them were for people not wearing seatbelts and the rest were for speeding.

"Bad things happen, and we see it first hand," said Trooper Brian Benfield.

He took Eyewitness News along Wednesday as he stopped speeders racing north and south on Interstate 77.

Eleven troopers are assigned to York County for the holiday weekend, and they've joined a half-dozen officers from other departments to patrol the roads. It's called the LEN, or Law Enforcement Network, and it's used to get more manpower on the highways when most needed.

"This is a busy day, and we know it," Benfield said.

The chief concern for troopers is that heavier than normal traffic and driver inattention can be a deadly combination. It's a time when bad driving habits can really be dangerous.

"If you pick up a cell phone, if you mess with the radio, you turn around and talk to your friend, or you eat while you drive, or read while you're driving -- it's not worth it," Benfield said.

Deadly crashes in South Carolina stand at 741 for the year. That's down from last year, but only by 10. Troopers know a busy travel weekend can add to that number quickly.

In those crashes, nearly 60 percent of victims were not wearing seat belts, even though it's the law in both North and South Carolina. Generally about half of all deadly crashes involve alcohol, something police focus on when the holidays approach.

Troopers may write as many as 1,000 citations in York County alone before the five-day holiday weekend is over, but they hope those speeding drivers will slow down for good -- not just until they're out of sight.