4th of July on Hudson Valley Highways: Record Traffic Expected

The cheapest gas prices in a decade should make the 2016 Fourth of July holiday weekend a record-setter for New York travelers.

• Get Patch’s Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts

AAA Mid-Atlantic said Monday that nearly 43 million Americans will travel this July 4 holiday weekend, an increase of 1.3 percent over last year’s holiday and five million more travelers compared to Memorial Day weekend.

The holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, June 30, to Monday, July 4. The auto club says nationally it expect a 1.3 percent in July 4 weekend travel compared to a year ago.

“A more confident consumer and rising economic activity are … offsetting a cooling labor market to help boost holiday travel,” said Ragina Cooper Averella with AAA Mid-Atlantic. “This trend is welcome news for the travel industry, as well as a sign that people are taking to the highways and skies like never before.”

Things will be helped a little by the cessation of construction-related lane closures on state roads. Gov. Andrew Cuomo made that announcement as expected earlier this week.