Memorial Day weekend travel adds up to more people, lower gas prices

After keeping themselves indoors through months of winter storms, millions of people are preparing to hit the road for Memorial Day weekend.

AAA travel reports estimate 36.1 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more this Memorial Day holiday -- a post-recession high for travel volume. Nearly 32 million of those travelers will use motor vehicles as their primary mode of transportation, a 1.3 percent increase over last year's 31.4 million.

Those who plan to get away via less-conventional means, such as a cruises or trains, will have plenty of travel companions, as AAA reports those numbers are up 6.5 percent this year to 1.7 million travelers.

Average nationwide gas prices for the holiday weekend likely will fall between $3.60 and $3.65 a gallon, according to GasBuddy and other sources, making prices nearly identical to those during Memorial Day weekend in 2012 and 2013. Last year on the holiday, the rate was $3.63 per gallon. In 2012 it was $3.64, according to The Associated Press.

But prices in most Midwest states, including Missouri, are expected to be about 20 cents lower.

Motorists filling their tanks in-state will pay an average of $3.42, according to GasBuddy estimates, and similar prices in surrounding states. The exceptions are Kentucky and Illinois, where average estimated prices are $3.74 and $3.82 a gallon, respectively.

As of Thursday, the lowest local fuel prices were $3.30 in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, and $3.34 in Scott City.

This year, drivers in the Midwest, Great Plains states and the Rockies will pay quite a bit less than they did a year ago. The Minnesota average of $3.49 is 78 cents lower than last year, the biggest drop in the nation. Drivers in North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa and Kansas are all paying at least 50 cents a gallon less.

That's because last year some big Midwestern refineries were taken offline to be upgraded to handle cheaper Canadian crude oil. That work is finished, and the refineries are churning out more fuel, pushing down prices in the region.

The story is different on the coasts. Refineries there have to pay higher prices for global crude, and more refineries are seeing downtime in Texas and Louisiana than in recent springs, said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service and Gasbuddy.com. Gulf Coast refiners supply much of the nation, and especially the coasts, with fuel.

To promote safety and better traffic flow, the Missouri Department of Transportation announced Wednesday it planned to suspend most highway construction and maintenance work for Memorial Day weekend. Work will stop at noon today and resume Tuesday after the morning rush.

MoDOT also cautioned drivers to be smart. "That means paying attention, buckling up, obeying the speed limit, not drinking and driving and planning ahead," said a news release.

During the previous Memorial Day holiday, six people died and 63 were seriously injured in Missouri traffic crashes, MoDOT reported. Ten percent of those cases involved a substance-impaired driver.

"Just be aware of each other," said Sgt. Jason Selzer of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. "Allow enough time in your schedule that you don't have to hurry. That's really the best advice."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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