Published: May 21, 2009 12:02 am      

As holiday nears, gas prices rise

Just when many area residents are hitting the highways, motorists can expect to encounter a bump in the road.

Gasoline prices in the area now range from $2.34 at Fabo’s service station in South Fork to $2.39 at several of the Sheetz stations around Johnstown.

That is a jump of nearly 30 cents in the past few weeks.

Despite the increase, the cost per gallon is much lower than it was last year at this time when prices soared to around $3.83 for the busy Memorial Day weekend.

Neil Gamson, an analyst for Energy Information Administration in Washington, said the prices track the recent increase in the cost of a barrel of oil.

“Three weeks ago it was $50 a barrel to over $60 today,” he said. “That’s the primary reason.”

As the economy sank into a recession, crude oil prices fell, Gamson explained.

“In some areas, we have sort of reached a bottom and are starting to head back up and that has been pushing oil prices up.”

Gamson said there is also a “season bump” that impacts fuel costs at this time of the year.

“Gasoline prices tend to go up in the spring and summer when there are more cars on the roads due to vacations.

“They could continue to go up a little more,” he said. “But we don’t anticipate them going up much more than they are now.“

Travelers unhappy with the cost of gas will find the weather more to their liking.

According to AccuWeather, temperatures will be in the 70s for the weekend.

Although rain is a possibility any day, temperatures should be mild and the sun will make an appearance from time to time.

AAA has projected that the number of Americans on the highways will be 1.5 percent higher than last year. The agency said it expects about 32.4 million travelers to take a journey of at least 50 miles this weekend.

Although motorists likely will encounter highway construction, there should be fewer delays than usual. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said it will suspend maintenance and construction work from 3 p.m. today through 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Pennsylvania Driving Under the Influence Association in Harrisburg said municipal and state police will be conducting increased sobriety checkpoints, roving patrols and other under-the-influence related enforcement initiatives to cut down on alcohol- and drug-impaired drivers.

“Approximately one-third of fatal impaired-driving related crashes occur in the months of May, June, July, August and September,” said C. Stephen Erni, the association’s executive director.

According to the agency, 531 state residents lost their lives as a result of impaired-driving crashes last year.

During the Memorial Day weekend, 497 such crashes took the lives of 19 people, making it the second worst. Only the Thanksgiving holiday had more fatalities.

“This weekend there will be many nighttime safety checkpoints throughout Cambria County. So the message here is: ‘Wear your seat belt and don’t drink and drive,’ ” said Pam Kane, safety press officer for PennDOT’s District 9 in Hollidaysburg.