1.08 Million Washingtonians To Travel For 4th Of July: AAA

SEATTLE — If you and your family are thinking about hitting the road this Independence Day weekend, you are far from alone.

This year AAA is predicting that 47.7 million Americans — including 1.08 million Washingtonians — will be traveling between July 1 - 5 this year. Not only is that nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, AAA says it will be the second-highest travel volume on record, trailing 2019's record by just 2.5 percent.

Of those Independence Day travelers, a whopping 91 percent will be traveling by car. If you've lived in Western Washington for some time, you know that can only mean one thing — long traffic backups. AAA teamed up with INRIX to predict the worst offenders, but many of them will look familiar to longtime residents.

“With travelers eager to hit the road this summer, we’re expecting nationwide traffic volumes to increase about 15 percent over normal this holiday weekend. Drivers around major metro areas must be prepared for significantly more delay,” says Bob Pishue, transportation analyst for INRIX. “Knowing when and where congestion will build can help drivers avoid the stress of sitting in traffic. Our advice is to avoid traveling on Thursday and Friday afternoon, along with Monday mid-day.”

Seattle is one of INRIX's top ten metro areas expecting the most traffic congestion. Here's a look at where they're predicting the worst backups:

Other bad news for drivers: AAA is predicting gas prices will also have risen back to pre-pandemic levels, growing to about $3.64 per gallon in Washington — not that that will deter many travelers.

“Higher gas prices won’t deter road trippers this summer. In fact, we’re expecting record-breaking levels of car travel this July Fourth,” said Kelly Just, public relations manager, AAA Washington. “These travelers are likely to look for more free activities or eat out less, but still take their vacations as planned.”

AAA data suggests that most Washingtonians will travel inside the state, with many heading to Seattle, Leavenworth or up north to Bellingham and Blaine. National Parks are expected to be busy, and drivers taking longer trips will mostly be headed to Idaho, Montano or Colorado.

As for the estimated 135,000 Washingtonians who will fly for the holiday, their most popular destinations will be southern California, Hawaii or Seattle.