Gas prices fall, just in time for the Fourth of July

July 3, 2009 8 AM PT

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Gas prices on Independence Day haven’t been this low in Los Angeles since 2005.

The Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch said the average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.977 per gallon, which is $1.62 less than last year -- and just in time for the holiday weekend.

Auto club spokesman Jeffrey Spring said gas prices were dropping very slowly. But it hasn’t been this low on the Fourth of July since 2005, when it averaged about $2.50 a gallon.

‘For the projected 2.3 million Southland car travelers that will take holiday trips this weekend, the gas price decrease -- along with numerous travel deals -- will give vacationers a lot more for their money this year,” Spring said in a statement.

-- W.J. Hennigan

Money & Company

W.J. Hennigan

W.J. Hennigan covered the Pentagon and national security issues from Washington, D.C., before leaving the Los Angeles Times bureau in November 2017. While there, he reported on war, counter-terrorism, and the lives of American service members from more than two dozen countries and previously covered the aerospace and defense industry from Los Angeles. Hennigan earned awards from the National Press Club, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, and was a contributor to the Los Angeles Times coverage of the terror attacks in San Bernardino that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2016.