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Near record travel numbers expected for Memorial Day weekend. What you need to know

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LANSING — If you’re planning to drive anywhere beyond your own neighborhood on Memorial Day weekend, keep in mind that you’re probably going to have a lot of company on the roads.

So budget more time to get to where you’re going and try to limit your driving to non-peak hours. It also might help to be aware of major construction zones so you can drive around them.

AAA − The Auto Club Group said it expects that nearly 1.3 million Michiganders will travel 50 miles or more for the unofficial start of summer this weekend. That would be the second-most since the travel club began tracking those numbers 24 years ago, and nearly 13,000 more than in 2019, before the pandemic altered trajectories, AAA said.

The vast majority of those travelers − or about 1.17 million − will go by car. The number of Michigan road trips is likely to be the second-highest on record, the auto club said.

The Michigan numbers are right in line with the national figures.

AAA estimates that nearly 43.8 million Americans plan to travel this weekend, about 1.7 million more than last year and only slightly behind 2005, when 44 million Americans left town for the holiday.

Here’s what you need to know about Memorial Day 2024 travel:

Getting there from here

The Michigan Department of Transportation typically suspends most road projects during holiday weekends, but drivers should still expect construction-related slowdowns, no matter where they are going.

About a dozen major projects are underway this year in Greater Lansing, including the ongoing rebuild of U.S. 127 between Interstates 96 and 496 and bridge work on I-96 in Eaton and Ingham counties.

Several ramps are closed along the U.S. 127 project area, including at Dunckel and Trowbridge roads. Drivers were being advised to follow posted detours or find alternate routes around that area.

The ramp from northbound Lansing Road to eastbound I-96 is closed, and South Washington Avenue and Billwood Highway are both closed at I-96. Also note that one lane of M-99 is closed in both directions at I-96.

In Clinton County, one lane of I-69 is closed in each direction between Old 27 and U.S. 127.

If you’re U.P.-bound, be forwarned that traffic is restricted to one lane in each direction on the Mackinac Bridge because a maintenance project didn’t finish on time, according to Channel 6 (WLUC).

About 100,000 vehicles will cross the bridge during the holiday weekend.

Officials are recommending visitors plan their travel for off-peak times, the TV station said. There’s a lot of northbound traffic on Fridays, especially on holiday weekends, with peaks between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Fill your tank as soon as possible

Coming into this week, the cost of regular gasoline had fallen to an average of $3.55 per gallon, down nine cents from the week before and about two cents lower than the same time last year, AAA said.

But prices could rise as the holiday weekend draws nearer. Michigan gas prices averaged $3.60 on Memorial Day weekend 2023, just five cents above Monday’s average, the auto club noted.

“While gas prices in Michigan are down to start the week, this trend will probably reverse,” AAA spokesperson Adrienne Woodland said in a release. “With an increase in demand from the rush of drivers filling up for Memorial Day, pump prices will likely increase ahead of the holiday weekend.”

Motorists were paying an average of $53 for a 15-gallon tank, the auto club said. That’s about $5 less than 2023’s highest price last August.

Early this week, drivers in the Jackson, Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit area were paying the most for gas. The least expensive gas was in the Benton Harbor, Grand Rapids and Flint areas.

Gas in Greater Lansing was somewhere in the middle −about $3.50 to $3.60 − on Monday, AAA said.

Woodland said drivers should expect continued volatility at the pump as the summer driving season goes along. The wildcard remains the cost of oil, with ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, AAA said.

Weather forecast: Fair to not bad

Severe thunderstorms were possible overnight Tuesday in mid-Michigan, but fair weather should prevail over much of the state through the weekend, with the usual caveat about Michigan weather changing unexpectedly.

Forecasters were expecting mostly dry conditions heading into the weekend in the Lansing area, with a low to moderate chance of rain showers on Friday morning.

Temperatures should be seasonably warm, with highs of around 80 degrees on Friday and Saturday and in the mid- to high 70s on Sunday and Monday, the National Weather Service said.

Expect cooler conditions in northern Michigan. Highs in the low to mid-70s were likely in Gaylord, with a chance of thunderstorms on Saturday and a chance of showers the rest of the weekend, the weather service said.

It will be cooler still in Marquette, with highs ranging from the mid-50s on Friday to the low 60s on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There is a chance of showers each day.

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.

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