If you are planning to take a road trip this Fourth of July weekend, you may want to give yourself some extra time. AAA Mid-Atlantic is predicting that 1.2 million New Jersey residents will be hitting the road as well, an increase of 1.3 percent over last year.

(Digital Vision, ThinkStock)
(Digital Vision, ThinkStock)
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Nationally, 41 million Americans will travel for the July 4th holiday.

"If you look at the Memorial Day holiday, we're expecting 300,000 more New Jerseyans to travel for Independence Day than they did for that holiday and that's simply because school is out," said Tracy Noble, spokesperson with AAA Mid-Atlantic. "Even though gas prices are higher, there were schools that had a lot of extra days this year because of the harsh winter. People are ready to get in the car, hit the roads, get down the shore and make those road trips. So, those higher prices are not expected to keep people home this upcoming weekend."

The July 4 travel period this year is defined as Wednesday, July 2 to Sunday, July 6. Roads are expected to be very busy Wednesday and Thursday nights as people will be looking to get a jump start on their weekend. While more than 1 million people will be traveling by car, AAA Mid-Atlantic estimates that nearly 94,000 will be traveling by air, which is a decrease of 0.6 percent from last year. Fewer travelers will be using other modes of transportation.

"The majority of people are heading to the beach," Noble said. "July 4 is definitely an American road trip holiday. It is not the time for air travel. Most air travel this weekend is for those whose summer vacations happen to fall during this week."

Motorists will find the average price of gas at $3.57 per gallon in New Jersey, $3.93 in New York, $3.78 in Pennsylvania and $3.66 in Delaware.

"Gas prices have been on the rise, and while they are about 22 cents higher than they were a year ago, we are still well below the national average and surrounding states," Noble said. "The good news for those visiting New Jersey from out of state is that we have the cheapest prices around."

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