Traveling this week? Here's what to expect

HOUSTON

On Tuesday night, holiday traffic was backed up at Hobby Airport on Tuesday night because of an upper-level road closure for construction on a parking garage that's set to go through the end of 2012.

Luckily, the problem wasn't persistent on Wednesday afternoon.

"It wasn't really that big of a deal," one traveler told us.

And there more good news. New TSA rules may help travelers get through security faster. Kids under 12 no longer have to remove their shoes when passing through security checkpoints. And the body scanner underwent an upgrade and now only reveals a generic outline of a person's body.

"I think what we'll see is the lines moving little faster," said Roxanne Butler with the Houston Airport System. "There's also a little bit more time it takes when you have a toddler, or a teenager for that matter, so having something that allows the flow of traffic is always good."

And it seemed to have worked. At Bush Intercontinental Airport, the new rules helped shorten the wait time in security lines. The average wait to go through security was about 15 minutes, a time consistent with the TSA, who told us the average wait time during peak hours was 20 minutes.

But even travelers who got stuck in Tuesday night's traffic jam at Hobby Airport said they didn't care how long it takes to get through the lines as long as they make it to their final destination on time.

"It's pretty hectic, but when you have family that lives out of town, that you get to see once or twice a year, you have to make it happen," traveler Stephan Glover said.

TSA recommends that if you're going to travel with packages, presents or even pies, you might want to ship them because they can be subject to inspections and can get a little ruffled.

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