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Highway holiday travel will drop 3%, AAA says

More people expected to stay off roads despite gas prices that are sharply lower than last year

Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll

Cars stack up on U.S. 52, and this is the middle of the week. Roads are expected to be a lot more crowded over this Fourth of July weekend.

By John Hinton | Journal Reporter

Published: July 2, 2009

The number of travelers in North Carolina is expected to drop by nearly 3 percent this holiday weekend from last year, even though the price of gas is down dramatically from a year ago.

Throughout the state, the average price of unleaded regular is $2.66 per gallon, said Brendan Byrnes, a spokesman for AAA Carolinas in Charlotte.

That's a drop of $1.40 a gallon from a year ago, when gas prices soared to more than $4 a gallon in North Carolina and throughout the country.

Gas prices, which in recent months had been climbing, have dropped in the past two weeks because demand for gas has dipped, and the market could not sustain prices that had been as high as $2.70 per gallon, Byrnes said.

As a result of the state unemployment rate of 11.1 percent in May, there were fewer people driving to jobs, Byrnes said. That meant less demand for gas last month. The average price of unleaded regular in Forsyth and Guilford counties is $2.56 per gallon, AAA Carolinas said.

It estimated that 945,000 North Carolinians are expected to travel during the holiday, a decline of 2.7 percent from last year. People will travel less amid their worries about the recession, AAA said.

However, air travel is expected to increase 5.4 percent over last year, AAA said. It expects 59,000 North Carolinians to board flights and take advantage of discounted tickets and special offers at hotels.

Travelers on the state's roads and highways will see more of a highway-patrol presence, authorities said.

Troopers will increase their patrols beginning today through midnight Sunday.

Troopers and local law-enforcement officers also will set up checkpoints in effort to catch impaired drivers.

They will focus on aggressive drivers who typically speed, follow other vehicles too closely and make erratic lane changes, said Col. Walter J. Wilson, the commander of the N.C. Highway Patrol.

"I have instructed our troopers to crack down on traffic violators on our interstates and to apply strict enforcement to those motorists who are traveling at dangerous speeds or in a careless manner," Wilson said.

In 2008, eight people died and 634 were injured in traffic accidents during the July 4 period, the highway patrol said.

Also, drivers will see fewer orange construction cones on the state's major roads and interstate highways.

The N.C. Department of Transportation will suspend most road construction projects over the holiday to help prevent traffic delays.

Most construction work will be suspended beginning at 4 p.m. today until 9 a.m. Tuesday, the DOT said.

Because of construction of the U.S. 311 Bypass, one of three lanes on Interstate 85 North and I-85 South will be closed at the interchange of N.C. 62 at exit 111 near High Point the DOT said. The right lane in each direction will remain closed.

In Wilkes County, the right lane on U.S. 421 South near N.C. 268 will remain closed from mile market 286 to mile marker 287, the DOT said. Crews were working on repairing a sinkhole, but no work will occur during the holiday period.

■ John Hinton can be reached at 727-7299 or at jhinton@wsjournal.com.