BATON ROUGE - Traffic was hectic most of Wednesday in the Capital area. And Baton Rouge Police are preparing for more of the same going into the Thanksgiving weekend.

Just like hundreds of thousands of other drivers navigating the road this weekend, Lindsay Rochester, who lives in Baton Rouge, will be taking a short trip to spend time with family.

“My husband and I are driving to meet my family in Lake Charles. And it’s a two-hour drive and hopefully the traffic’s not too bad,” Rochester said. 

Looking to alleviate some of those driving pains, Baton Rouge Police are preparing to put extra patrols on the interstate for Sunday, one of the busiest travel days of the year.

“We’re going to have 10 officers placed on the interstate system to assist with any crashes, debris, stalls. Anything that may slow traffic up,” Don Coppola with BRPD said. 

Coppola said they’ve used this system for the past several years.

“Last year, for instance, the officers handled over 120 incidents,” Coppola said.

And he said that it helps more than just the traffic flow.

“Their response time is faster. It keeps the on-duty officers working the streets off the interstate system,” Coppola said.

Coppola also suggests checking the roadways before leaving and taking alternate routes if possible.

“Leave early, take your time. We’re going to assist you the best we can,” Coppola said.

But Rochester said they’ll try to time their trip back to Baton Rouge on Sunday when they think fewer cars will be on the road.

“We’ll probably end up leaving later in the day. So hopefully, same thing, people are leaving earlier. And we’re going to leave later. And maybe we’ll bypass it? I don’t know we’ll see,” Rochester said.

BRPD said they’ll also be on the lookout for distracted and drunk drivers over the Thanksgiving weekend. They said to have a plan if you know you’ll be drinking.

For traffic updates check our up to date traffic map HERE.