COLUMBUS, Ohio – It’s Getaway Day for thousands of Ohioans taking advantage of the last holiday weekend of the summer.
EXTRA: Central Ohio festivals and other holiday weekend events.
EXTRA: Highway construction areas
The AAA expects 1.44 million Ohioans will travel at least 50 miles from home during the holiday period, which the auto club measures starting Thursday and lasting through Monday. Holiday travel is projected to reach a new post-recession high nationwide with 34.7 million Americans taking to the highways or the air.
That is an increase of 1.3 percent nationwide and 0.5 percent for Ohio from Labor Day 2013. Historical data shows that when the long holiday weekend starts in August, more people tend to travel, according to the AAA.
Most Ohio travelers — 1.29 million — will drive to their destinations and should be able to enjoy gasoline prices lower than a year ago. The auto club’s daily survey with the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc., showed the statewide average price of a gallon of regular gasoline selling for $3.36 Friday, 20 cents cheaper than last year.
The average price in Columbus Friday was $3.35 a gallon. Prices around Ohio ranged from $3.29 in Toledo to $3.41 in Cincinnati.
Motorists traveling to neighboring states will find Ohio’s prices are the cheapest, while drivers in Michigan are paying the most at $3.60 a gallon
It’s hard to predict how long that will last. While oil prices have dropped despite tensions in Iraq, an explosion and fire at a BP oil refinery east of Chicago Wednesday “minimally” affected operations, according to a spokesman, but an interruption in the supply could cause a short-term price hike.
Ohio law enforcement agencies will be out in full force during the holiday weekend, trying to curb impaired driving and reduce the number of fatal accidents.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, 13 people were killed in 11 crashes over the Labor Day holiday in 2013, a slight drop from the year before when 14 people died.
Impaired drivers were involved in 34 percent of all fatal traffic crashes in Ohio in 2013, the patrol reported.
Labor Day weekend air travel is expected to increase for the third consecutive year with 55,000 Ohioans flying to their destinations, a 1.6 percent increase over last year.