Gas Prices Keep Falling Nationwide, Except In Midwest

Gas pump icon
Weekly gas price survey

The cost of driving from Point “A” to Point “B” got a little cheaper last week, again, as gas prices across the U.S. continued falling, and at roughly the same pace as has been seen during the past three weeks. The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline was down to $3.52, and that price is about 31¢ lower, per gallon, that at this time last year. The figures were published today as part of the weekly gas price survey from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The only region of the U.S. not enjoying a decline in gas prices was the Midwest, which has bucked the trend of falling fuel costs for two consecutive weeks. Prices across the Midwestern region were either flat or up slightly, by about a penny per gallon in most places.

Diesel fuel pump icon
Weekly diesel price survey

Meanwhile, the cost of shipping goods nationwide got a little cheaper during the past week, at least where diesel prices are concerned. The cost of a gallon of diesel fuel declined by almost 4-cents per gallon during the past week, a trend that was felt in nearly every region.

In some places, like California, the Midwest and the lower Atlantic states, the price decline was only about 3-cents per gallon. As with regular gasoline, however, the price of diesel fuel is down considerably from one year ago. The Rocky Mountain states and the West Coast, not including California, have enjoyed the most substantial decrease in diesel costs, where prices are down an average of 40-cents per gallon.

DOWNLOAD THE WEEKLY EIA GAS PRICE SURVEY

Midwest Gas Price Spike Flattens Broader Average Prices Nationwide

Gas pump icon
Weekly gas price survey

Gasoline prices dropped in nearly every part of the United States during the past week, according to the latest survey by the U.S. Energy Information Adminstration.  But, a surge in gas prices across the Midwest so offset consumer gains elsewhere, it nearly flattened the average price of regular unleaded gasoline.

While prices in most regions declined between 2-cents and 6-cents per gallon, the price of fuel in Midwestern states surged by 9-cents. Even gas prices in California and the broader West Coast region were down by a nickel, in most places.

For transit companies and private truckers, the news was equally good in nearly every market, with substantial price declines for diesel fuel across all regions, including the Midwest. Per gallon diesel costs were down between 5-cents and 9-cents per gallon in most regions, with New England and the West Coast states enjoying the greatest declines in fuel prices.

The news is even better when comparing year-over-year prices. For consumer drivers and families taking vacations this summer, the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline is likely to remain in the $3.63 per gallon range, according to an EIA news release.

Prices this year are off between 23-cents per gallon and 42-cents per gallon for regular unleaded, depending upon the region. The New England and Central Atlantic states are enjoying the greatest price advantages, versus 2012.

Diesel prices are down between 11-cents per gallon and 41-cents per gallon, with the West Coast enjoying the greatest price breaks, when comparing 2013 to 2012 costs.

DOWNLOAD THE WEEKLY EIA GAS PRICE SURVEY

Travel A Little Less Taxing With Falling Gas Prices

Gas pump icon
Weekly gas price survey

Fuel costs continued to fall across the United States during the past week, according to the weekly fuel survey by the Energy Information Administration. The price of a gallon of gasoline fell in all regions of the United States during the past week, settling at about $3.54 per gallong, down just over 6-cents per gallon nationwide. The lowest cost of gasline was to be found along America’s Gulf Coast, where the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline was down to $3.36, while the West Coast continued to endure prices nearly the $3.90 per gallon mark.

Diesel prices also continued to fall during the past week as the average price of a gallon of fuel slipped to $3.94 per gallon, down about 4-cents from the previous week. Like unleaded gasoline, the highest prices for diesel are still to be found on the West Coast and in California, where the average price of diesel remains over $4.00 per gallon, with the price in California at about $4.15, on average.

Gas stations aligning a roadway in Breezewood
Gas prices have fallen considerably from one year ago, as seen in these signs in Breezewood, Pennsylvania, adjacent to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. TurnpikeInfo.com photo taken May 16, 2012.

The cost of gasoline and diesel is now, in some areas of the United States, close to where it was at the beginning of 2013, right before the prices began spiking due to reduced refinery capacity, despite a glut of crude inventories on the market. The best news about gas prices can be found when comparing the rates to a year ago. The price of gas is down by as much as 44-cents per gallon, in some areas, versus the same period in 2012.

However, truckers and other drivers of diesel cars are finding they are not ennoying the same year-over-year price break, with most areas of the country witnesses diesel prices down anywhere from 10-cents per gallon in the Midwest to only 37-cents per gallon along the West Coast of the U.S.

DOWNLOAD THE WEEKLY EIA FUEL PRICE SURVEY

Gas and Diesel Prices Keep Falling, To The Delight Of Travelers

Gas pump icon
Weekly gas price survey

The price of a gallon of gas kept driving downward during the past week, according to the latest weekly survey from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the government agency that regularly tracks the cost of gasoline and diesel across the United States. For the U.S. as a whole, the average price of a gallon of gas slipped won nearly 4-cents per gallon to about $3.61.

Only the Rocky Mountain states saw an increase in gas prices, where the average cost of fuel increased nearly 3-cents per gallon. Even so, the cost of gas in the Rocky Mountain region remained below the national average.

The price of gas across the United States varied widely, however, with prices across the Gulf Coast as low as $3.43 per gallon, on average, while the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded cost nearly $4.00 per gallon in some metropolitan areas of Californa and Florida.

Diesel fuel pump icon
Weekly diesel price survey

For truckers and those in the shipping industry, the cost of a gallon of diesel fuel fell to an average of $3.98 per gallon during the past week. However, the price of diesel in the New England states and in California were much higher, at $4.13 and $4.20, respectively.

DOWNLOAD THE WEEKLY EIA GAS PRICE SURVEY

Bridge Replacement Leaves Old York Road Bridge Closed For Six Months

The Old York Road Bridge over The Pennsylvania Turnpike is closed until October 2013 while construction crews replace the old span, originally constructed in the 1950’s. The bridge is being extended to accommodate extra lanes of traffic on the Penna Turnpike, which will be widened from four to six lanes of traffic through Harrisburg beginning in 2014.

The entire span of the Pennsylvania Turnpike is being rebuilt to upgrade travel lanes, add travel lanes and upgrade the roadway to newer construction standards. The Old York Road bridge was built in the 1950’s, and many sections of Pennsylvania’s turnpike were also constructed at that time.

The project will affect traffic primarily on Old York Road, although the bridge tear-down and rebuild will occassionally result in traffic impacts on the turnpike, itself, between mile posts 242 and 245, which is between the Harrisburg East and Harrisburg West exits.

Marsh Run Road
The Marsh Run Road bridge is one of two bridge spans currently being retrofitted or replaced over the Penna Turnpike in Harrisburg.

Another bridge span in the Harrisburg area, Marsh Run Road, is also being retrofitted for the turnpike widening project, but closures are not planned. Marsh Run Road construction has been ongoing for several weeks already.
For commuters who regularly use the Old York Road bridge, traffic will be detoured to I-83 for the next six months while the project continues.

Construction Slows Traffic Along Florida’s Turnpike in South Florida

A series of construction projects, minor to major, continue to impact traffic flow along Florida’s Turnpike in South Florida, with lane closures in Palm Beach County to an interchange reconstruction project in Broward County, where the turnpike meets I-595. For the Palm Beach County project, a bridge replacement is underway at the Jupiter-Indiantown exit, at mile marker 116, where one lane of traffic in each direction will be closed through this Thursday, April 11. The lane closures will affect traffic during overnight hours, from 10 PM to 5 AM. Further south, one lane of traffic in each direction will be closed between mile markers 102 and 104 for roadway resurfacing.

I-595 - Florida's Turnpike Construction
Major interchange improvements in Broward County are causing numerous delays for drivers on Florida’s Turnpike.

In Broward County, a major widening project of the I-595 corridor, from Fort Lauderdale west to Plantation and Sunrise, continues to impact traffic between mile markers 53 and 55, affecting traffic traveling south the Sunrise Boulevard exit until well past the Griffin Road exit. Florida’s Department of Transportation and county construction crews have been widening I-595, and the widening project includes a major redesign of the interchange with Florida’s Turnpike, which is also adjacent to the US 441 Interchange and the University Drive exits, all which fall within the space of one-and-a-half miles of each other.

Part of the construction on the I-595 interchange includes adding new lanes on the Florida’s Turnpike, itself, where construction has been ongoing since 2010. In addition to the new lanes of traffic in the northbound and southbound directions on the turnpike, there will also be new toll plaza lanes added to accommodate traffic directly connecting to the turnpike from I-595.

Florida’s DOT has issued a series of lane closure statements for the I-595 and Turnpike interchange, which includes the following current updates:

  • One lane of westbound I-595 between the Florida’s Turnpike overpass and Davie Road will be closed nightly from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. and two lanes will be closed nightly from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. beginning Wednesday, April 10 and ending Friday, April 12.
  • One lane of the ramp from I-595 to southbound Florida’s Turnpike will be closed from 6 a.m. Saturday, April 6 to 1 p.m. Sunday, April 7 and nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. beginning Monday, April 8 and ending Friday, April 12.
  • One lane of the ramp from Florida’s Turnpike to I-595 / SR 84 / SR 7 will be closed nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. beginning Sunday, April 7 and ending Tuesday, April 9.
  • One lane of the ramp from southbound Florida’s Turnpike to I-595 / SR 84/ SR 7 will be closed nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. beginning Monday, April 8 and ending Friday, April 12.
  • One lane of southbound Florida’s Turnpike between Sunrise Boulevard and I-595 interchange will be closed nightly from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. and two lanes will be closed nightly from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. beginning Sunday, April 7 and ending Tuesday, April 9.
  • One lane of Florida’s Turnpike, in each direction, at the I-595 interchange will be closed nightly from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., and two lanes of southbound Florida’s Turnpike will be closed nightly from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. beginning Monday, April 8 and ending Friday, April 12.
  • Two lanes of Florida’s Turnpike, in each direction, between Griffin Road and Sterling Road will be closed nightly from 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. beginning Monday, April 8 and ending Friday, April 12.
  • One lane of the ramp from northbound Florida’s Turnpike to I-595 / SR 84/ SR 7 will be closed nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. beginning Monday, April 8 and ending Friday, April 12.

Sawgrass Expressway Northbound Closes Overnight This Week

Sawgrass Expy Sign
The Sawgrass Expressway in Broward County, Florida, will be the site of overnight lane closures this week.

All northbound lanes of the Sawgrass Expressway, a toll road in Broward County, Florida, will be closing between the I-75 interchange and Sunrise Boulevard, near the BB&T Center. The lane closures will affect only the northbound traffic, and those closures will only be during the overnight hours, between 11:45 PM and 4 AM. The lane closures will be in effect through Thursday, April 11.

The Florida Department of Transportation and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise are installing new sign support systems on those lanes, and that will require all traffic to be diverted to 136th Avenue. Traffic exiting from I-595 westbound or I-75 southbound and going north on the Sawgrass Expy. will be directed north to Sunrise Boulevard, using 136th. From Sunrise Boulevard, travelers will then be able to return to the Sawgrass Expressway and continue north to the towns of Tamarac, Coral Springs and Pompano Beach, at the north/east end of the Sawgrass Expressway, which connects with Florida’s Turnpike mainline.

No Fooling! Gas Prices Continue To Slide Lower

Gas pump icon
Weekly gas price survey

Gasoline prices continued their decline in nearly all markets of the United States this week, as the Energy Information Administration reported in its latest weekly survey of fuel costs. The average U.S. price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas dipped by over 3-cents per gallon, with pricess falling by 6-cents per gallon in the Midwest, the one region that has, until now, bucked the trend of declining gas prices.

The only region of the USA that did not enjoy a decline in gas prices was the Rocky Mountain States, where the average per-gallon cost of gas went up by about 3-cents, the opposite of the national trend.

Diesel fuel pump icon
Weekly diesel price survey

Meanwhile, diesel costs were down nearly across the board, with all markets showing a slight decline in the cost of diesel prices. The only place where diesel costs increase was in California, which drove the overall West Coast costs of diesel fuel higher. Take away the California price increases, and the overall West Coast price of diesel declined in line with the U.S. petroleum trend.

DOWNLOAD THE WEEKLY EIA GAS PRICE SURVEY