People heading back home as Memorial Day weekend wraps up

PHOENIX - As Memorial Day concludes, people who made a trip out of the Valley are starting to returning home.

Despite fears over COVID-19, there are still more cars on the road. In fact, ADOT officials warned drivers of very heavy traffic along an 18-mile stretch of the I-17, from Bumble Bee to the area just north of New River.

Some of the people who were driving home along I-17 were from out of state. Leslie and Tim Gelsomino are from California, and they were exploring Arizona during the Memorial Day weekend.

"We have friends in Scottsdale, we knew it was open. We had been planning a road trip for a long time so Memorial Day Weekend seemed like a good time," said Leslie.

Leslie and Tim are heading back to Irvine, where many more restrictions are still in place.

"Everyone we see out right now and about, we’re all kind of entering into the same risk contract, everyone kind of knows what they’re signing themselves up for being out," said Tim. "It’s a little bit of a bummer going back to California, knowing it’s not as free and open as Arizona is right now. We’re hoping that it’ll get there sooner rather than later."