‘People are really going to be stuck in traffic’: Fourth of July travel expected to be busiest ever, gas prices cheaper than last year

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – If you’re heading out of town for the Fourth of July, you’re going to be joined by a lot of other travelers.

11 News checked in with AAA Colorado ahead of the Fourth of July travel week, which is predicting nearly 71 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home, with about 61 million of those traveling by car. The busiest travel times in Colorado are expected Wednesday afternoon going into the mountains and along I-25 between Fort Collins and Denver, followed by Sunday afternoon into Monday.

“We’re predicting that it can take 67% longer per road trip during this holiday period. People are really going to be stuck in traffic, there’s no way around it,” said Cassie Tanner of AAA Colorado. “We are such a hub to get to the American West, so people are coming in so they can access our beautiful mountains. But it’s really important that people know that driving in the mountains is a little different, you have to be prepared for anything, weather can happen and come on very suddenly, especially afternoon storms.”

As of Wednesday, July 3, 2024, the average price for a gallon of gas in Colorado is $3.37, about 38 cents cheaper than this day last year. El Paso County has more expensive gas, than compared to its surrounding counties of Teller, Pueblo and Douglas. Denver is in the top 10 domestic travel destinations for this week.

Wednesday’s national average is about $3.50, about the same as this day last year. Colorado’s prices are about average, with more expensive gas going west, and cheaper gas going into the Midwest.

“I think that we have not seen some of the fears come to fruition about us changing to the reformulated gas that the EPA required so those fears seem to be a little unfounded, but gas is something that can be a little unpredictable because it’s really driven by the oil market, so while we’re in a good spot, we don’t like to make a lot of predictions about where we’re going,” said Tanner.

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