AAA Predicts Busy Memorial Day Travel Weekend

(Undated) — Triple A is predicting a busy Memorial Day travel weekend.

“The forecast for holiday travel this year from Triple A; the number of travelers is up nearly four percent and people traveling by car 50-miles or more is up over three and a half percent and it puts us right below the record set for travel back in 2005,” said Brian Ortner, with Triple A.

Ortner says Memorial Day travel got underway Thursday. He says roads are expected to be busiest between noon and 7 p.m. today as well as between 2 and 5 Saturday afternoon.

Ortner says gas prices are about the same as they were for Memorial Day 2023.

“If we look at last year over the holiday weekend, gas prices on average across the state were $3.38 per gallon. As of Thursday, the average price for a gallon of fuel is $3.32, we’re about six cents lower.”

Meanwhile, Sherry Arntzen, Iowa State Parks Director, says it should busy this weekend at Iowa’s State Parks.

“Most of our electrical campsites are already reserved, there are just a few non-electric sites,” said Arntzen.

Flooded areas are prompting some extra words of caution. Arntzen said understand that when you have a lot of rain and flooding that there is debris that’s hidden under those waters, so please wear your life jacket.