Fourth of July drivers should see more traffic, lower gas prices

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14 years ago

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Drivers who are hitting the roads for the extended Fourth of July weekend will see lower prices than from a month ago, according to FloridaStateGasPrices.com.The gas-price-monitoring website listed gas prices at $2.66 a gallon this week, which is 0.5 cents a gallon more expensive than a year ago, but 5 cents a gallon cheaper than a month ago. Average retail gasoline prices in the state of Florida have risen 0.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging the same $2.66 a gallon we are paying locally.

At the national level, the average price of a gallon of gas increased 0.7 cents in the last week to $2.74 per gallon. The national average has decreased 0.4 cents during the last month and stands 13.5 cents per gallon higher than last year.Locally, gas prices range from $2.58 a gallon at the Cumberland Farms in Sebastian to $2.77 a gallon at the Exxon station at U.S. 1 and 15th Place.Meanwhile, the Automobile Association of America is expecting the number of Americans traveling this holiday weekend to increase 17.1 percent from 2009, with approximately 34.9 million travelers taking a trip at least 50 miles away from home.

Last year, 29.8 million Americans traveled during the same period. The 2010 Fourth of July holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, July 1 to Monday, July 5. “While financial markets continue to have volatility related to the European debt crisis, the landscape of the U.S. economy is in a much different place than it was one year ago,” said Glen MacDonell, director, AAA Travel Services. “It is encouraging to see such growth this summer as Americans take to the road to visit family, friends and great vacation destinations.” AAA is also cautioning that the Fourth of July marks the busiest travel holiday for emergency roadside services calls. As temperatures rise, vehicles are put to the test. AAA expects to come to the aid of 520,000 stranded motorists during the holiday weekend. Triple A is projecting Florida travelers to include more than 1.4 million by automobile, nearly 68,000 by air and about 64,000 by bus or train.

For a sampling of gas prices see the list below:

Price*StationAddressTown

$2.58

Cumberland Farms

957 Sebastian Blvd & Barber

Sebastian

$2.59

Murphy USA

1999 US-1 near Jackson St

Sebastian

$2.59

Sunoco

9020 Fellsmere Rd & CR-510

1005 21st St & 10th Ave

Vero Beach

$2.69

7-Eleven

1201 Old Dixie Hwy & 12th St

1031 US-1 near 10th St

9490 90th Ave & CR-512

Sebastian

$2.72

Sunoco

1901 US-1 near 19th St

2296 US-1 near 23rd St

755 4th St & Old Dixie Hwy

*This list represents a sampling of prices for one gallon of regular, unleaded gas at stations in Indian River County. This list does not include every station in the county.

Debbie Carson contributed to this report.