MEDFORD, Ore. – AAA expects Wednesday, November 21 through Sunday, November 25 to be the busiest Thanksgiving holiday travel period to be the busiest since 2005.

More than 54 million Americans including 704,000 Oregonians will be traveling during that time frame. 609,000 of them will be traveling by car. This year, the weather won’t make travelers’ road trips any easier with rain in the forecast. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has been gearing up for this busy travel time for a while and will have 24/7 coverage along Siskiyou Summit to make sure everyone gets over the hill safely.

“Our equipment has been getting worked on and prepared. [We’ve been] meeting with other agencies: CalTrans to the south, our other fire departments and everything to help out. We're all one big team and it takes us all to make it work. All of our snow plows, all of our stock pile products are here. We will be out here on the holidays if we have to be to get people of the hill safe,” said ODOT’s Ashland Maintenance Coordinator Bob Harshman.

ODOT recommends travelers check their cars and make sure they're in good working order before hitting the road. One of the key things ODOT said is important to check are the car's tires.

Check out this story on tire safety.