Record-Breaking Fourth Of July Traffic Expected

BOSTON — Lower gas prices and the potential for a four-day weekend mean more people will take to the roads this Fourth of July holiday, AAA said. The auto group expects a record 49 million people to travel this week for the holiday, up 4.1 percent from last year. In Massachusetts, AAA expects 1.3 million to travel, with 1.1 million of those making their trips by car.

If you're one of those people planning to hit the road, you may want to avoid the highway on Friday between 10 a.m. and noon. That's when traffic will be at its worst, as it's expected to be 3.4 times heavier than usual, AAA said.

"With record-level travelers hitting the road this holiday, drivers must be prepared for delays around our major metros," said Trevor Reed, transportation analyst at INRIX, which compiles the estimates for AAA. "Although travel times are expected to nominally increase throughout the week, hands down, Wednesday afternoon will be the worst time to be on the road."

You can also expect a lot of visitors in the region this week. Based on travel bookings, AAA rates Boston as the seventh most popular Fourth of July destination this year. Maine and Cape Cod were also ranked highly in a separate, online poll AAA conducted asking drivers for their planned destinations this year.

While car rental and airfares are higher this year, gas prices have dropped since the Memorial Day holiday. That means more people are planning weekend road trips to celebrate Independence Day.

"Gas prices are, on average, 17 cents cheaper than Memorial Day weekend, which is welcome news for motorists hitting the road to celebrate the July Fourth holiday," said AAA gas price expert Jeanette Casselano. "More so, summer gas prices are poised to continue dropping even lower in coming weeks."