The state Department of Transportation is offering tips about when to travel this holiday weekend to avoid the worst of the worst traffic. Plus, links to tips and tactics for air travel.

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Hitting the highway for Thanksgiving weekend?

The state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) can’t get the other cars and trucks out of your way, but it does offer some tips about the best travel times on the busiest highways during one of the deadliest weekends.

For example: If you’re headed east across Snoqualmie Pass, you’ll find a lot less competition for space on Interstate 90 if you can make that trip early Thursday, when traffic will be relatively light, instead of Wednesday afternoon, when stop-and-go traffic is expected from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

And if you’re coming back from Eastern Washington on I-90 on Sunday, crossing the pass before 11 a.m. could spare you a major headache, as stop-and-go traffic that direction is expected from 1 to 5 p.m.

A set of WSDOT maps, 40 in all, also shows the anticipated traffic flow on three other routes prone to holiday headaches: Interstate 5 between Tacoma and Olympia, I- 5 between Bellingham and the Canadian border and Highway 2 over Stevens Pass.

Traffic is expected to be particularly rugged Sunday on I-5 north from Olympia, with stop-and-go conditions from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you want a little elbow room on that route (northbound or southbound), get out of bed early and complete your trip by 9 a.m.

Thanksgiving is generally the holiday that sees the most fatal crashes and motor-vehicle deaths, according to the Insurance Information Institute, which provides information to the public on how insurance works.

The increased holiday fatalities have been tied to speed, weather and time of travel, the institute said. In addition, the National Safety Council has estimated that 2015 could be the deadliest year for traffic fatalities since 2007, in part because of lower gas prices boosting miles driven.

In its annual Thanksgiving safety primer, the State Patrol urged travelers to remember that driving conditions change rapidly. “Mountain passes can change from clear dry roads to blizzard like conditions in minutes,” the State Patrol said. “When those conditions are less than optimal, drivers need to reduce their speed accordingly. Reducing speed and increasing following distances are the best ways to arrive at your destination safely.”

Ferry routes and the U.S./Canada border also are expected to have heavy traffic. And congestion is expected at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, with some 800,000 passengers through the airport Thanksgiving week.

Drivers headed over the mountains should check WSDOT’s updated mountain pass conditions. The general forecast for the weekend calls for sunny skies, nights that could dip into the single digits and high temperatures that will stay below freezing, creating the possibility of slick surfaces all day.

Two-way traffic resumed Monday on Highway 2 across Stevens Pass following repairs for storm damage, but a complete closure in both directions was scheduled from 9 p.m. Tuesday until 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Looking further ahead, Ted Buehner of the National Weather Service in Seattle says indications point to a winter that will be warmer than average, with precipitation that could be slightly lower than normal.