4th's gas prices lowest in decade

With money saved, more expected on state roads this year

Kaleb Hughley leads members of a youth group from Hot Springs’ First Lutheran Church down a trail Wednesday afternoon at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. The park and other destinations in the state are preparing for an influx of visitors over the Fourth of July weekend.
Kaleb Hughley leads members of a youth group from Hot Springs’ First Lutheran Church down a trail Wednesday afternoon at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. The park and other destinations in the state are preparing for an influx of visitors over the Fourth of July weekend.

The last time gas prices were this low for the Fourth of July, Apple Inc.'s engineers were still designing the first iPhone.

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Joe and Amy Hall of Cabot look for birds along the Kingfisher Trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the long holiday weekend.

People traveling for Independence Day will find Arkansas' average gas prices hovering around $2.07 a gallon, the lowest price drivers have seen since 2005 on the holiday and more than 40 cents cheaper than last year, according to AAA.

Accumulated savings from two years of low fuel prices have helped boost traveling above pre-recession levels, said Michael Right, a spokesman for AAA Missouri, which covers Arkansas.

"The family budget has swelled," he said, noting that demand for gasoline is at an all-time high. "We're back on the roads. Big time."

Nationally, AAA estimates that 43 million motorists will be traveling in regard to the Fourth of July.

No major roads are scheduled to close over the holiday weekend, but work zones on Interstate 30 near Hope, Fulton and Texarkana have already created some congestion and could cause delays over the holiday, said Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

Drivers can find routes around accidents and work zones at IDriveArkansas.com. The department also posts updates on Twitter using the handle @AHTD.

Most Arkansans will drive to their destinations, Right said, and traffic over Arkansas' roads has been increasing more quickly than the national average.

Little Rock's Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field has also seen a boost in passengers over the past year, but travelers shouldn't worry about long security lines that have snared fliers in other major airports, said Shane Carter, the airport's director of public affairs and government relations.

On average, travelers pass through the entire security check in five minutes, he said, although that can climb to about 15 minutes during the morning's peak hours. But when factoring in parking, checking bags and time at the ticket counter, travelers should still plan on arriving at the airport about 90 minutes before their flights, he said.

The holiday travel shouldn't affect that five-minute average security check time, said Sari Koshetz, a regional Transportation Security Administration spokesman. She added that the federal agency has rotated a team of additional security officers to Little Rock.

Security at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport has been speedy as well, said airport director Kelly Johnson. Northwest Regional sees a lot of business travelers, she said, so any boost in holiday travel will balance out with fewer people on business trips.

For people staying in state, all of Arkansas' 52 state parks will be open for daytime visitors free of charge.

Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism spokesman Meg Matthews recommended checking out Historic Washington State Park near Hope, where visitors can sign their own copy of the Declaration of Independence with a quill.

DeGray Lake Resort State Park will hold a day of free events including a watermelon-eating contest, kayak races and a fireworks show.

Of the 27 parks offering overnight camping or lodging, 10 were fully booked as of Wednesday: Bull Shoals-White River, Crater of Diamonds, Devil's Den, Lake Catherine, Lake Charles, Lake Dardanelle, Lake Fort Smith, Moro Bay, Mount Magazine, Petit Jean and Withrow Springs.

Parks with the most overnight openings listed on Wednesday were Lake Chicot, which had more than 60 campsites open; Village Creek, which had 30 open sites; and Jacksonport, which had 11 open sites.

The state parks' website, ArkansasStateParks.com, lists all the openings. People can also use the site to reserve a cabin or campsite.

Even though state parks' campsites are filling up, many people still plan to spend the day outside.

Although market reports show the mosquito-borne Zika virus is deterring some tourists from visiting South America and the Caribbean, no locally transmitted case of the disease has been reported on the continental U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tanner McKnight, a 23-year-old from Wynne, plans to camp with his family in the Hot Springs area. And Anjuli Steer, a 32-year-old from Little Rock, is planning to travel to her in-laws' house on Lake Catherine to fish, boat and barbecue.

Otis Ingram, a 46-year-old nurse, said he plans to spend the day biking with some friends from the local chapter of the Major Taylor Cycling Club. And if there's a barbecue, he might just have some vegetables.

"I know that kind of sounds anti-holiday," he said, but "like we tell the patients, you know, you've got to be kind of selective in what you choose."

Metro on 06/30/2016

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