Region residents hoping to celebrate this Independence Day with a long weekend getaway could find themselves stuck in traffic and long security lines as a record number of Americans are expected to travel by car or plane over the four days.

On the bright side, construction work shouldn’t be a factor locally.

“As for interstate work people can expect, there isn’t much,” said Adam Parkhouse, spokesman for Indiana Department of Transportation LaPorte District.

AAA predicted that nearly 49 million Americans will spend the nation’s birthday away from home this year, the largest number ever since AAA began tracking holiday travel in 2000.

About 1.5 million of those travelers are from Indiana, a 4% increase over last year.

The vast majority of traveling revelers, a record-high, are expected to drive to their destination, which INRIX, a global mobility analytics company, warned could result in delays as much as four times a normal commute. July 3 is expected to be the worst day on the roads.

“As Independence Day approaches, it’s time for the much-loved family road trip and this year will be one for the record books, with more Americans than ever planning vacations,” said Nick Jarmusz, Midwest spokesman for AAA-The Auto Club Group.

AAA anticipated more than 1 million Hoosiers to travel by car, a 4.2% hike, and 2.4 million Illinoisans, a 4.5% increase.

Jarmusz attributed lower gas prices for motivating individuals and families to take a road trip.

“Gas prices are, on average, are 20 cents cheaper than Memorial Day weekend, which is welcome news for motorists hitting the road to celebrate the July 4th holiday,” Jarmusz said.

With Chicago the 10th most popular U.S. destination during the holiday, according to AAA, and both Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan beaches and other attractions typically drawing thousands of visitors from the Midwest over the four days, high traffic volumes could be expected on the highways and toll roads in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

But Parkhouse said there will be very little work taking place border to border on Interstate 94 to add to the congestion. For those heading south to the state capitol or the No. 1 destination for the holiday— Orlando, Fla., — Interstate 65 has lane reductions between U.S. 30 and U.S. 231 and between the Indiana Toll Road and Central Avenue, all in Lake County.

As for visitors coming to the region to celebrate the nation’s birthday, Dustin Ritchea, production director with Indiana Dunes Tourism in Porter, said they don’t have hard numbers on how many individuals visit the area specifically for the 4th of July weekend. However, he said the Dunes National Park and the Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton together drew about 3.6 million visitors in 2018.

“We usually see more traffic during the long weekends,” Ritchea said.

“So far this year we’ve seen an 16% increase in traffic, even with the wet weather,” Ritchea said.

He attributed the rise to the National Lakeshore receiving national parks designation.

He recommended beach visitors arrive early, and to ride a bike in to the state park if possible, to avoid expected long lines.

“There’s still a fee, but you’ll be in a separate line and can go right in,” Richea said.

AAA predicted that another 3.96 million people will fly to their getaway spot, which AAA said is the highest number on record and 5.3% more than last year. The remainder will travel by train, bus or cruise ship.

Karen Caffarini is a freelancer.