Travel numbers expected to fall this Labor Day

With the exception of University of Virginia football fans around the state, fewer Virginians are expected to hit the road this Labor Day weekend, keeping with a summer trend of less holiday travel.

AAA Mid-Atlantic expects 2 percent fewer people will drive more than 50 miles from their homes this weekend, the first decline in Labor Day wanderings since 2006.

UVa’s Saturday football game against the University of Southern California is making Charlottesville an exception to that prediction, according to local officials.

“The game is bringing in a tremendous influx and 80 to 90 percent of our hotel partners are reporting that they’re at capacity,” said Allie Baer, interim director of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau. “There’s going to be a lot of activity around the UVa area during the weekend.”

“While we are seeing a drop in travel [for Labor Day], it is a small improvement over the Fourth of July holiday when we saw a drop of 3 percent in the commonwealth,” said Martha M. Meade, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “This may show that travelers are starting to respond to the recent drop in gasoline prices.”

AAA figures show that gas prices have dropped nearly 50 cents a gallon since the Fourth of July. That’s still about 90 cents a gallon more than last year at this time.

Virginia Department of Transportation officials will temporarily stop construction and maintenance work on major roadways, opening closed lanes from noon today to noon Tuesday. Long-term construction zones, with concrete barriers and orange barrels, will remain in place.

At the same time, the Virginia State Police and the Albemarle County Police Department are planning separate Labor Day enforcement projects to put more police on the street. Both efforts are aimed at keeping drunks off the road and arresting those who are.

While drivers are slashing their miles, flyers are cooling their jets. AAA is projecting a 5 percent decrease in the number of Virginians flying this year as compared with last year. AAA also predicted increases in other travel costs, with airfares 15 percent higher than last year and charges being levied for checked baggage and other services that were previously free.

Hotel rates are unchanged from last year’s Labor Day holiday travel period and car rental rates are up 2 percent on average, AAA said.

Local attractions don’t anticipate a slack in crowds, however. Visitation has been way up at James Madison’s Montpelier and the Orange County destination expects Labor Day will be no different.

“It’s difficult to know what turnout will be over the holiday, but we’ve been up about 24 percent all summer long and we expect that will continue into the weekend,” said Jennifer Gullette, Montpelier spokeswoman. “It’s been pretty steady all season.”

Monticello’s director of communications, Wayne Mogielnicki, said the number of visitors at the destination has stayed steadily above last year. No predictions are being made about the Labor Day weekend. On Monday, the attraction begins its “good neighbor month” of decreased entrance fees. Normally reserved for Charlottesville and Albemarle County residents, September’s discount rates extend to all residents of Central Virginia.

“We expect our summer trend of increased visitation will continue into the holiday,” he said. “We hope local residents will take advantage of good neighbor month, as well.”