The nation’s economic recovery seems to be slowing down, but not travel plans to enjoy the last days of summer.

Some 34.4 million Americans are making trips this Labor Day weekend, according to an AAA survey, up 9.9 percent from last year’s dismal showing.

Vacationers will also spend more this year, the survey shows. Median spending is expected to be $697, up nearly $50.

Travelers are expected to pay more for airfares, 9 percent higher; car rentals, up 7 percent; and hotels.

But one thing they won’t be spending more on is gas. Regular unleaded, now averaging $2.68 a gallon, is down almost 20 cents from the spring, an AAA report says. Texas prices are averaging $2.51.

Meanwhile, nine out of 10 people are traveling by car this holiday weekend.

San Antonio traffic jam photo from viainfo.net.

A recent study laid out what I found to be an amazing stat.

For every hour driving, U.S. life expectancy decreases by 20 minutes, suggests analysis in a University of Toronto study. The shorter life spans are due to crashes.

An hour a day is about the average two-way San Antonio commute. So the typical driver here loses four days a year, about half a year over a 40-year career. The payoff is a year and a half slogging through traffic to make the bucks.

The finding that drivers lose a minute of life for every three minutes on the road wasn’t even the main point of the study. Authors wanted to consider the risks of driving faster to reduce travel times. They determined that time saved by speeding is far outweighed by shortened lives due to higher chances of crashing.

The conclusion: Americans drive a little too fast and can live longer by driving slower.

Workers have probably finished closing down westbound Loop 410 at Perrin Beitel by now so they can restripe the highway.

Crews will work through the night and into Saturday morning, likely interrupting the busy flow of weekend shoppers and travelers. Workers should finish by noon.

The $119 million project to widen this part of Loop 410 is the largest construction job in San Antonio, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Work is slightly ahead of schedule and is expected to wrap up by the end of the year.

“We don’t have far to go,” TxDOT engineer Randy Grones assured. “The completion date is right around the corner.”

To check the latest San Antonio traffic:

• TransGuide

It’s been a long, long week.

And I can’t think of a better way to wrap it up than with a road trip west to see my favorite twins. This weekend will be especially fun because they’re celebrating their sixth birthday. It’s a pool party! 

Check out the video I put together from their fifth birthday party.

Well, gotta pack.

Live weather feed for San Antonio from the National Weather Service.

There’s plenty for would-be travelers to worry about.

A hole in the Gulf floor spews thousands of barrels a day of sticky oil. A European debt crisis shook up financial markets. Storms will soak much of Texas through the Fourth of July weekend. 

But as I sit on my porch sipping coffee, watching my lawn drink in what Hurricane Alex’s remnants have left to dump, 34.9 million Americans will be on vacation trips, a whopping 17 percent more than last year, AAA says. Nine out of 10 will go by car.

And why not? Most Gulf beaches remain clean and open. A U.S. economic recovery seems to be holding steady. Most Texas roads, though wet, are open.

Also, gas prices are under $3 a gallon.

So though travelers will spend a little less — on average, $50 less — than last year, the holiday looks much brighter than a year ago. 

Sources and links:

• Weather
• Statewide road conditions, or call (800) 452-9292
• Gas prices
• AAA report

Latest radar from National Weather Service.

Hurricane Alex is grinding into a Mexican coast, its tails whipping South Texas and spitting out tornadoes. Winds are blowing more than 100 mph.

Though the brunt of the storm wandered south, it was powerful enough to drive both Texans and Mexicans away from their homes to find safer shelter, the Associated Press reported. A slew of tornado, flooding and wind warnings are in place in South Texas, including a flood watch in Bexar County, the National Weather Service says.

Officials closed the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge in South Padre Island due to winds and State Highway 87 in Galveston because of flooding, the Texas Department of Transportation announced. More than 100 TxDOT workers and 200 pieces of equipment will move in tomorrow to open roads and fix traffic signals and signs.

Helpful links:

• National Weather Service
• Weather Channel
• Statewide road conditions, or call (800) 452-9292
• TxDOT hurricane page

Live traffic cam from TransGuide. Image refreshes every few minutes or so.

Workers closed all main lanes of westbound Loop 410 at Starcrest for the weekend.

Motorists must exit at Harry Wurzbach and re-enter past Broadway. The busy stretch of highway is sure to coagulate into a nightmare shortly after sunrise.

Crews are putting drivers through the hoops so they can place rebar onto a Nacogdoches Road bridge deck. The work is part of a $119 million construction project, the city’s largest, to widen that part of the freeway to 10 lanes.

The job so far is on schedule and should end before the year’s out, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

“Everyone will reap the benefits,” an official said.

Also bogging down this weekend is eastbound Loop 1604 at U.S. 281. Workers there will close a lane through 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday to repair a bridge joint.

Click map for options.

The travel outlook for Memorial Day weekend looks about as wobbly as recent stock market swings.

More Americans will be making trips this year, a “sizeable increase” of 5.5 percent from last year and the first gain in five years, according to AAA. But average spending is expected to drop to $809, a “sizeable reduction” from last year’s $1,052.
 
The Great Recession has been taking a breather, with consumer sentiment, household worth and GDP up from a year ago, the same report says. But jobs have lagged, leaving unemployment 3 percent higher.

The coaster ride doesn’t end there. Travelers face varying price swings this holiday.  

Airfare tickets will stay about the same as last year but car rental rates will drop 15 percent and hotel rates will dip slightly, AAA reports.

Gasoline, meanwhile, is selling for 35 to 40 cents a gallon higher than a year ago. In Texas, regular unleaded now averages $2.68, up 37 cents.

Of the 32.1 million people making trips this holiday, 87 percent will go by car.

LINKS:

• 2010 Travel Forecast
• Gas prices
• Weather

Can buses look and operate more like light rail?

VIA Metropolitan Transit officials think so. And now the public can peek under the hood of a plan to spend $57 million to speed up bus travel and make trips more comfortable along Fredericksburg Road.

The agency will hold three public meetings over two weeks to explain the latest on an environmental study:

Monday, May 24
6 p.m.
Jefferson High School cafeteria
723 Donaldson

Thursday, May 27
1:30 p.m.
Norris Conference Center
Wonderland of the Americas Mall
4522 Fredericksburg Road, Suite A100

Thursday, May 27
6 p.m.
Norris Conference Center
Wonderland of the Americas Mall
4522 Fredericksburg Road, Suite A100

The study says buses could scoot along 30 percent faster on nine miles between downtown and the Medical Center, two prime job centers anchoring one of VIA’s busiest routes. More than a fourth of the area’s 79,000 residents depend on transit.

The cost for bus rapid transit, as it’s called, includes traffic signal controls to give buses more green time, faster ticketing, sidewalk-level boarding, two roomy transit centers and eight enhanced stations. The hope is that developers will create walkable, mixed-used hubs around the stops. 

The cost does not include dedicated bus lanes on part of the route, as proposed in previous plans that put the tab at around $100 million.

Construction is supposed to start this year, with service starting in late 2012. 

LINKS:

• Study summary
• Full study
• BRT main page

Cozy, secluded and deadly. That’s how a new study portrays suburban America’s unassuming cul-de-sacs.

Why?

Because people who live in the pods don’t walk and bicycle much, according to research by a University of British Columbia professor. The swirling, disconnected streets don’t allow short trips to a whole lot of places.      

Look at the maps above. They show all paths within one kilometer of a selected spot in each of two Seattle neighborhoods; one constricted by meandering streets and the other splayed open by a connected grid.

People who live in the networked neighborhoods travel 26 percent fewer miles by car than those who ensconce themselves in the spaghetti-and-pod burbs.

And, studies by the author, Lawrence Frank, and others show, people who live in neighborhoods that are more walkable tend to, well, walk more. And bike more. That means, per capita, their body mass indexes are lower and they breathe cleaner air.

LINK:

• The Unintended Consequences of Cul-de-sacs