Utah drivers may avoid rising gas prices this Labor Day, but delays are expected

SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. gas prices are on the rise after flooding at an Indiana refinery, but it appears Utah drivers might avoid those increased costs at the pump this Labor Day weekend.

However, state transportation officials say drivers still may have to deal with some travel headaches as people enjoy the unofficial end of summer.

Utah’s gas prices ‘mostly spared’ from refinery issues

The average price for a regular gallon of gasoline in Utah has been “mostly spared” from a Midwest refinery outage that has caused the national average to rise, says John Treanor, a spokesman for AAA Mountain West Group. The organization says statewide prices are even on the decline heading into the holiday weekend.

The BP Whiting Refinery in Indiana processes approximately 440,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it the largest refinery in the Midwest, but operations were significantly scaled back after a severe thunderstorm caused flooding in the area last week, according to Reuters.

While the outlet reports that operations are now back to normal, AAA officials said Thursday that the disruption was still large enough to be the primary cause of the national average jumping 7 cents within a week. States closer to the refinery had even larger spikes in prices after the outage.

Utah’s average was listed at $3.31 per gallon on Friday, which is approximately a dime per gallon higher than the national average of $3.20. It’s also down about 29 cents from this time last year. Averages in some Utah counties are even below the national average heading into the holiday.

Treanor said gas prices “should trend downward” heading into fall after a mostly “steady” summer, but he points out that the incident highlights how prices can quickly change.

“The incident in Indiana underscores the futility of predicting gas prices,” he said. “Mother Nature and geopolitical events can suddenly and unexpectedly impact fuel prices.”

Meanwhile, Utah still has some of the cheapest electric vehicle charging rates in the nation. Its average of 29 cents per kilowatt-hour is fourth lowest in the U.S., behind only Kansas, Missouri and Maryland, per AAA.

Some holiday travel delays expected

The bigger headache might be on two particular roads in the state.

Holiday travel is expected to create some delays on Friday, as people head out for perhaps one last summer adventure, but it may not be as bad as some of the other recent holidays, Utah Department of Transportation engineers say.

Delays of up to 15 minutes are possible on southbound I-15 in Salt Lake County from the early afternoon through the evening on Friday, especially between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., according to the agency. Delays of up to 10 minutes are possible on eastbound U.S. 6 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., as well.

The largest delays are expected on U.S. 6 on Monday as everyone returns from their weekend trips. Delays of up to 30 minutes are possible from the late morning through early evening along the highway’s westbound lanes. Peak delays are expected in the late afternoon.

As usual, UDOT will suspend most of its projects to reopen as many lanes as possible to reduce traffic delays. However, state transportation officials say that some lane restrictions and traffic shifts will remain in place to ensure work zone safety. This includes U.S. 6 from Diamond Fork Road to Thistle in Utah County, which is down to one lane in each direction due to a project to improve overhead lighting and drainage systems, and that may factor into the highway’s delays.