Day before the Fourth of July expected to be the busiest travel day by car in Colorado, across nation

The Fourth of July is less than a day away but experts with AAA are telling CBS Colorado that the Wednesday before the holiday is the busiest day for travel. This is so travelers can make it to their final destination and celebrate on the fourth and the upcoming weekend.

AAA is expecting more than 60 million drivers on the roads during the week of the fourth. This is 2.8 million more travelers than in 2023. The travel agency tells CBS Colorado along with the surplus of drivers on the roads, car rentals are expected to rise as well. AAA says along with Denver being the ninth spot for the most visited place during the 4th of July, other popular destinations include Dallas, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

AAA also believes more people are on the roads because of gas prices dropping. Right now in Colorado, the average price for gas is $3.35 per gallon. Gas prices were $3.75 per gallon around this time in 2023. 

If you are planning to drive, the worst times to travel are between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. AAA also says they are expecting the worst congestion in Colorado to be in the southbound lanes of I-25 from Fort Collins to Denver. The average time of travel is one hour and 37 minutes. 

AAA says in the past, the fourth was celebrated for one day. It is not like that anymore. 

“This year, what we are seeing is instead of driving somewhere for a one-day barbecue and then seeing some fireworks, folks increasingly are taking advantage of the timing of the holiday to have much longer to plan,” Skyler Mckinley, Regional Director for AAA said. “Those plans are set in stone for a little while now.”

AAA is reminding everyone to be patient as traffic is expected to last all week long. 

Brian Sherrod

Brian Sherrod is a multimedia journalist and the First Alert Traffic Tracker Reporter at CBS News Colorado. Read his latest reports or check out his bio and send him an email.