Heavy holiday travel expected

More Arkansans are expected to hit the road and take to the skies during the midweek Fourth of July holiday, much like millions of Americans.

Predicting that 42.3 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles for the Independence Day holiday, AAA estimates 4.1 million people from the club’s south-central region - which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma - will travel 50 miles or farther, according to spokesman Mike Right of St. Louis-based AAA Missouri.

“We’re about where we were in 2007, which was a peak year,” Right said, noting that in that year, AAA also counted 42.3 million travelers nationally.

Transportation officials say they believe the calendar, gas prices and a recovering economy are inspiring more people to venture off although some studies show people might opt to stay near home.

“When you look at this holiday you look at it being a little bit different than some of the others, in that this holiday falls in the middle of the week,” said Shane Carter, spokesman for Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field. “I think that does change when some people travel and the distance they travel.”

The Little Rock airport expects more than 38,000 passengers to arrive and depart Saturday through Thursday, Carter said. That’s a 4percent increase from last year’s holiday, when the airport saw 36,705 passengers, Carter said.

At Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill, authorities say they expect to board more than 10,400 people - about the same aslast year.

In the south-central region, AAA projects 380,000 people will fly, a 9.6 percent increase from 2011.

With the holiday falling in the middle of the week, many families are treating themselves to “mini-vacations,” Right said, where they will travel longer than if the holiday fell earlier or later in the week.

AAA surveys indicated that 54 percent of the people traveling for the holiday planned to depart before the workweek that includes July Fourth. Friday was likely the busiest travel day, with 25 percent of respondents saying they would depart that day. According to respondents, Monday is the least popular departure day.

Right said AAA also hasseen some “pent-up travel demand” from families who have not been able to take trips the past few years because of tight finances. He said those families may be more likely to travel this year, and are, thus, part of the increase.

But recent surveys suggest not everyone will be trekking across the country or even across the state.

An American Express national consumer survey in June found people anticipated about $1,180 per person in vacation spending or $5,000 for a familyof four.

Another survey found 24 percent of workers said they were considering a “staycation,” a trip closer to home, to save money, and 11 percent said they planned to take the close-to-home trip, according a Principal Financial Well-being Index study.

Some families might not have planned July Fourth trips earlier in the year when pundits predicted high gas prices because of summer travel demand and tensions in the Middle East, Right said.

In Arkansas, the average price Friday for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.13, according to AAA’s daily fuel price report.

Arkansas roadways will have a greater trooper presence, as the Arkansas State Police started a drunken-driving and speed-enforcement initiative Friday and running through July 14.

Drivers can expect to encounter more patrol cars and sobriety checkpoints during that period, officials said.

So don’t speed or drink anddrive, said state police Sgt. Brad Lann. And expect heavier traffic.

“It’s probably going to slow you down a little bit,” said Lann. “Just plan accordingly and try to give yourself a little extra time - that way you’re not in such a rush.”