COLUMBUS – Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans are expected to begin hitting the road as early as Thursday afternoon for the long Memorial Day holiday weekend, the kickoff of what is expected to be another busy summer travel season.
Enjoy the Holiday RESPONSIBLY! Last year during the holiday period, Ohio had 17 fatal crashes, killing 18. Of those, 7 crashes and fatalities were OVI related. #DriveSober or Get Pulled Over. pic.twitter.com/ZDkd3Lf9rs
— Ohio State Highway Patrol (@OSHP) May 24, 2019
The auto club AAA expects nearly 43 million Americans, including nearly 1.7 million Ohioans, to travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday, the highest Memorial Day travel volume since 2005 and the second highest Memorial Day travel volume since AAA started tracking travel volume statistics in 2000, Paula Twidale, vice president, AAA Travel, said.
This year’s projected travel volume is a 3.3 percent increase over last year in Ohio and a 3.6 percent increase nationwide. Despite fluctuating gas prices, travel volumes have been steadily rising after dropping significantly during the 2008-09 recession.
“Since then, we continue to see steady travel growth and this year is no exception. We’re seeing strong consumer spending, which has been helped out by solid job and income growth,” said senior public affairs manager Kimberly Schwind of the AAA Ohio Auto Club.
About 1.5 million Ohioans will drive to their destinations and drivers should mostly enjoy gasoline that is less expensive than a year ago, according to a daily survey from AAA, the Oil Price Information Index and WEX, Inc.
Gas prices at popular Ohio destinations (as of May 23, 2019)
Cincinnati………… $2.73
Cleveland…………. $2.70
Cedar Point……… $2.76
Hocking Hills…… $2.66
King’s Island……. $2.73
Amish country…. $2.81
-Source: AAA
Even though gas prices across the U.S. have increased by more than 30 cents in the last two months, with the national and Ohio averages approaching $3 a gallon, the AAA survey shows the statewide average price Thursday morning was $2.69, more than 20 cents a gallon cheaper than in 2018., when Ohio’s average gasoline price spiked to $2.91 on May 24.
Prices in neighboring states ranged from $2.66 in Kentucky to $3.01 in Pennsylvania. The national average was $2.85 a gallon.
AAA, in collaboration with transportation analytics company INRIX, predicts the greatest amount of highway congestion will occur on Thursday and Friday afternoon, as commuters leave work early and mix with holiday travelers.
You could expect to see heavy traffic, especially in the city centers, creating much longer than normal travel times,” Schwind said. “In fact, travel delays on major roads across the country could be more than three times longer than normal during these times.”
To avoid heavy traffic, Schwind recommends traveling in the late morning or early afternoon or plan alternative routes.
Construction projects will also impact traffic throughout Ohio but the state Transportation Department will try to reduce their impact as much as possible while reminding motorists to watch their speeds in work zones. Last year, 4,662 work zone crashes resulted in 586 minor injuries, 103 serious injuries, and 14 deaths, ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning said.
Safety belt usage will be a primary focus of the Ohio State Highway Patrol during the weekend as part of the Click it or Ticket campaign, Lt. Robert Sellers said.
Last year in Ohio, 17 fatal crashes killed 18 people during the Memorial Day weekend. Of those fatalities, Sellers says seven were unbelted.
He says troopers will be highly visible on roadways to encourage drivers to wear their safety belts.