© 2024 WSHU
NPR News & Classical Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Across New England, expect a busy travel weekend on the roads for Fourth of July

Teens and adults celebrate during the 4th of July parade. Orleans. Cape Cod. Massachusetts. New England. USA.. (Photo by: Paolo Picciotto/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Paolo Picciotto/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group
/
Universal Images Group Editorial
Teens and adults celebrate during the Fourth of July parade in Orleans, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

2.4 million New Englanders are predicted to travel by car for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

This weekend is expected to be New England’s busiest ever Fourth of July on the roads, according to AAA.

“Despite the record gas prices that we’ve been seeing this summer, 2.4 million New Englanders are going to be traveling by car to their destination,” said Tracy Noble, Northeastern AAA’s public affairs manager.


Here's a look at Fourth of July events across Connecticut, from fireworks to parades to music


Gas prices are down slightly from their peak earlier in June, currently about $4.85 for a gallon of regular in Connecticut. During last year’s Fourth of July weekend, a gallon of gas was $3.12.

“People over the course of the last two years, thanks to COVID, had changed their vacation plans, stayed home and just altered their plans in general,” Noble said. “So this year, they made their plans early, and they’re sticking with it.”

Across the country, air travel is down over 9% this weekend compared to 2019 due to more expensive plane tickets and mass flight cancellations.

National AAA expects travel times to increase 50% this weekend, and it encourages drivers to avoid the roads on Friday afternoon.

Maxwell Zeff is the Spring 2022 Larry Lunden News Intern at CT Public. He assists The Accountability Project investigative news team.