Goochland rest stop spotlights Memorial Day car travel rush

The Goochland County rest stop on Interstate 64 turned into a snapshot of Memorial Day traffic, with travelers pausing between North Carolina and Callahan, Virginia, while AAA said the holiday surge was still overwhelmingly road-based. In Virginia, 1.07 million people were expected to travel by car for the weekend, and nine in 10 holiday travelers were driving rather than flying or taking rail.

Stephanie Sheler and April Story were among the travelers who stopped in Goochland on their way to a family reunion in Callahan. Their trip reflected the same pattern seen across the Commonwealth: long holiday drives, roadside breaks, and a constant eye on fuel costs as Virginians moved up and down the interstate network that crosses the county.

AAA said the best time to drive in Virginia on Memorial Day was before 10 a.m., while the worst window was noon to 5 p.m. That advice mattered in Goochland, where Interstate 64 funnels through traffic from Richmond and points west and east, and where rest-stop traffic can swell as drivers try to avoid the heaviest congestion. The pressure was not just about time on the road. Virginia’s average price for regular gasoline stood at $4.38 a gallon on the holiday Monday, while Richmond’s average was $4.47, keeping fuel spending front and center for families making the trip.

The local scene fit a national pattern of heavy travel. AAA projected a record 45 million Americans would travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday, May 21 and Monday, May 25, 2026. Of those, 39.1 million were expected to drive and 3.66 million to fly, with driving accounting for 87 percent of holiday travelers. AAA also said the national average price for regular gasoline was $4.507 on May 25.

Statewide, Virginia State Police said the Memorial Day statistical counting period ran from 12:01 a.m. on May 22 through midnight on Monday, May 25, with all available troopers and supervisors on patrol under Operation C.A.R.E. The agency patrols more than 74,000 miles of state roadways and interstate highways, a reach that puts interstates like I-64 in Goochland squarely inside the state’s holiday enforcement picture.

Virginia State Police said the 2025 Memorial Day period produced more than 3,300 speeding citations, more than 1,500 reckless-driving citations, 71 DUI or DUID arrests and 405 hands-free law citations. It also ended with nine fatalities on Virginia roadways, a toll that framed the warning heading into another heavy travel weekend.