Getting There: Labor Day travel to increase just 1 percent this year
Despite some of the lowest gasoline prices seen in years, travel over the upcoming Labor Day holiday is expected to increase only slightly across the U.S.
AAA auto club said it expects 35.5 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more from home during the holiday.
That represents just a 1 percent increase from 2014, but it is the highest number of expected travelers since the Great Recession.
In 2008, AAA said 45.2 million Americans went away from home during Labor Day.
Travel numbers are also held down by the late date – Sept. 7 – for this year’s holiday. The later Labor Day, the fewer the travelers, AAA said.
Automobile travel will increase by 1.1 percent this year, with 30.4 million Americans taking to the road. Another 2.6 million will travel by air, which is a 1.5 percent increase from last year.
Last week, AAA reported that the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline was the lowest for this time of year since 2004. The average U.S. price was at $2.59, the auto club said.
Drivers in the Pacific Northwest were paying the highest gasoline prices, with Washington averaging $3.04 a gallon.
In South Carolina, the pump price was $2.11.
Washington started collecting an additional gasoline tax of 7 cents a gallon on Aug. 1 to pay for road construction, including completion of the North Spokane Corridor. But the increase was hardly noticed because it came at the same time that wholesale gasoline prices were falling.
Downtown street work
In Spokane, the downtown area has congestion along Main Avenue because of street and utility work at Wall Street.
Main is closed between Post and Howard streets, while northbound Post is closed from Riverside to Main avenues.
Crews have been working 12-hour shifts in order to get Main reopened by Friday.
Wall Street from Main to Spokane Falls Boulevard is also closed for construction.
Farther east on Main, a repaving project between Bernard and Browne streets starts today. Traffic may be reduced to a single lane.
At Finch Arboretum, the parking lot is being expanded and paved with a pervious type of asphalt. The project starts today.
Robert Karl Cellars, located at 115 W. Pacific Ave., is closing the sidewalk, parking lane and 12 parking meters to set up a mobile bottling line on Wednesday and Thursday.
Installation of a new triangle island at Division Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard has resulted in an adjacent lane closure on the boulevard.
Work continues on other major street projects that got started earlier this summer.
Highways closed
Wildfires have caused closure of highways in Eastern and central Washington. They are state Highway 155 between Nespelem and Omak and state Highway 21 south of Republic.
Interstate 90 work
On Interstate 90, sweeping will result in lane closures this week from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. through Thursday.
Also, lane reductions are in place near Four Lakes, where workers are doing maintenance and pavement patching on bridges.
Farther west, rock blasting will close I-90 east of Snoqualmie Pass at 7 p.m. today through Wednesday. The freeway is being widened.
Other highway work
Elsewhere on state highways, finishing work is underway on Mt. Spokane Park Drive east of Bruce Road.
Rehabilitation work continues on concrete pavement panels on U.S. Highway 195 from Interstate 90 to Excelsior Road. A temporary speed limit of 45 mph is in place.
On U.S. Highway 395, a bridge inspection north of Wandermere may result in a lane closure on Tuesday.
Asphalt paving during evening hours is continuing on Trent Avenue from Sullivan Road to the Idaho state line. Single lines of traffic guided by pilot cars are being used during work hours from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
In the Valley
In Spokane Valley, Argonne Road from Appleway to Sprague Avenue will have lane closures this week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Work continues on Mansfield Avenue from Pines to Houk roads.
Mullan Road from Sprague to Broadway avenues will also have lane closures.
511 enhancements
Recent changes to the Idaho Transportation Department’s 511 Idaho Traveler Services website are meant to enhance a user’s experience when the popular website is accessed for current highway and travel information.
Links to download the free 511 app for iPhone can be found on ITD’s 511 Travel Information page at 511.idaho.gov. The new app also can be downloaded through the iPhone and Android app stores.
The 511 website recently rolled out several new improvements and features:
• A new event-location system allows 511 users of both the website and smartphone app to zoom in for a better-quality map view that closely follows every twist and turn along all Idaho highways to within a few feet.
• The new landing page for the 511 website was redesigned to make it easier to understand and navigate.
• A complete redesign of the full-feature, high-bandwidth version of the 511 website emphasizes ease of use and navigation while retaining the popular features and functionality of the older full-feature website.
The site continues to support personalized 511 accounts and allows users to save a favorite route and get live notification of travel issues along the saved route using text messages or email.