As summer winds down, Marylanders are enjoying a little relief at the pump, and they appear ready to hit the road for the season’s last holiday weekend.
The state’s average gas price has fallen to $3.54 a gallon, and AAA is anticipating only a 0.6 percent decline in Maryland travel for Labor Day from last year.
“Labor Day is important, because if you messed up and didn’t go anywhere during the summer, it’s sort of the procrastinator’s last chance,” said Rudy Maxa, a contributing editor with National Geographic Traveler magazine. “You can still go to Ocean City, Rehoboth or the Eastern Shore. It’s still summer.”
When gas prices began their record climb earlier this year, it seemed a long, uneventful summer awaited many Marylanders.
AAA Mid-Atlantic projected a 0.9 percent decrease in Memorial Day travel for Marylanders, when the average state gas price was $3.92 a gallon. As summer rolled on and prices rose, the organization estimated a 1.3 percent drop in Fourth of July travel among Marylanders when gas was more than $4 a gallon.
“The projected decline in the percentage of Marylanders traveling this Labor Day is less than the decline of this year’s other two summer holidays, Memorial Day and Fourth of July,” said Christine Delise, spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “This small improvement in Labor Day travel could be attributed to lower gas prices.”
More than 648,000 Marylanders are expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday, according to AAA. Half of Maryland travelers are expected to travel to destinations that are within roughly 250 miles from home, while 27 percent plan to travel no more than 125 miles from home.
Travelers heading to the Eastern Shore for the holiday should plan for heavy traffic, as the Maryland Transportation Authority this week said improvements to the retaining barriers on the Bay Bridge would begin immediately. The work has closed the right lane of the Bay Bridge’s eastbound span.
The MdTA ordered the improvements after inspectors examined the bridge and found corroded steel encased in other barriers. The inspections occurred after a fatal crash on Aug. 10 in which a tractor-trailer broke through a barrier and plunged into the Bay.
AAA suggests motorists travel during off-peak times or take alternative routes if possible.
“Having lane closures and bridge construction work over a holiday weekend is highly unusual and will certainly cause some motorists delays, but we applaud the Maryland Transportation Authority for proceeding with these safety improvements,” Delise said.
More than 47,600 automobiles crossed the Bay Bridge over the Fourth of July weekend, according to AAA.
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