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AAA MI: 4th of July Travel Forecast Hits 15 Year High

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aaamich.com

Michigan’s 4th of July holiday travel forecast puts lots of folks on the road.  Close to 1.5 million will journey 50 miles or more from home over the Independence Day weekend.  AAA says the high volume of travelers could be good news for the state..

“AAA is predicting that the travel forecast is going to hit a 15 year high in Michigan.”

That’s Susan Hiltz, Public Affairs Director for AAA Michigan who says the travel numbers are adding up on the plus side for the state.

“What we’re looking at is close to 1.5 million Michiganders will journey 50 miles away from home over the holiday weekend.  And that’s a 3 % increase over last year. So good news for our economy and the travel industry.”

And Hiltz says that good news is passed on the travelers in decent gas prices and more.

“Consumer confidence is up and it’s been that way for a while. Our economy is doing better and it’s been on that roll for a while.  And gas prices are relatively low. And there are just a few factors coming into play. And you kids are out of school and 4TH of July is just a good holiday in Michigan.”

Hiltz also says out of the 1.5 Michiganders traveling, about 1.3 million of them will be driving.  So you’ll have lots of company on the roads this upcoming weekend.  She advises folks to remember to play it safe.

“We just want to remind folks to stick to the basics when it comes to driving. It’s very important that  all of us are very safe on the roads, so we want folks to buckle up, always drive safe and sober and ditch the distractions when you get behind the wheel.”

Jennifer is an award winning broadcast news journalist with more than two decades of professional television news experience including the nation's fifth largest news market. She's worked as both news reporter and news anchor for television and radio in markets from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo all the way to San Francisco, California.