Does the price of gas matter anymore?

How soon we forget. In May 2008, the sharp rise of gas prices to more than $4 per gallon for the first time in U.S. history drove a spike through our driving habits.

We took fewer trips. We carpooled more. We rode buses. We walked. We bought smaller cars.

Prices fell. In October, the recession hit, and by December gas prices had plunged all the way down to less than $1.70 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com.

Over the next two years, they sneaked upward, and in 2011 were back up to $4. Since then prices have settled into the $3.40-$3.90 range.

Yawn.

We don’t seem to mind high gas prices nearly as much as we did a few years ago. That observation is backed up by a new survey by AAA.

Only half of U.S. adults — 53 percent — have changed driving habits or lifestyles in response to high gas prices, according to the survey. This is down 15 percent from just a year ago.

Gasoline demand increased more than 1 percent in 2013, the largest annual increase since 2006, according to figures cited by AAA. Americans drove 18 billion more miles in 2013 than the year before.

The auto club credits the fact that gasoline prices aren’t as crazy-high as before. The national average price may not reach $3.65 per gallon this spring, according to AAA. This would be nearly 15 cents less than the high in 2013 and about 30 cents less than in 2012.

Prices have dropped because of increased production and supplies, according to AAA.

Still, the survey does not point out that prices never averaged more than $3 per gallon for a full year until 2008 and never more than $2 until 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The average of $3.53 in 2011 was the highest ever to that point, adjusted for inflation or not.

“People may be less likely to change their habits, but they do not seem any happier at the pumps,” said Bob Darbelnet, president and CEO of AAA. “Many drivers grudgingly realize that paying more than $3 per gallon for gasoline is the new normal, but they remain frustrated with the price.”

Maybe not quite frustrated enough.

Steven Lay of Everett writes: Much has been written about the tricky merge where Highway 204 and 20th Street SE run into the westbound U.S. 2 trestle.

They don’t need to tear down anything and start over. I have driven that route many times and thought how I would make it safer. My solution would be to extend the merge ramp from Highway 204 farther down the right side of U.S. 2. This would allow more time for those to adjust their speed and see the traffic coming down 20th. The ramp would extend farther than most ramps but I do not see a complete tear down as stated. I’m sure there is a bright young engineer who could design this ramp.

Kris Olsen, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, responds: Over the years, the state has looked at many options to improve the U.S. 2 interchange with Highway 204 and 20th Street SE for westbound drivers. One of the options we looked at was widening the existing structure at the interchange to improve merging conditions. Unfortunately, it was ruled out almost immediately. Most of the westbound trestle was built in 1967-68. To widen the existing structure and provide a longer merge lane for Highway 204 drivers, current design standards would require retrofitting the bridge superstructure and substructure to current seismic standards. Given the type of bridge design and the poor soil conditions where the trestle is located retrofitting the structure is cost-prohibitive. An expensive retrofit also doesn’t address the need for additional westbound lanes to accommodate the growing traffic volumes.

Extending the Highway 204 merge lane by reconfiguring the lanes is also not an option because there simply isn’t enough room. Trying to squeeze in a longer merge lane would push Highway 204 traffic too close to the concrete barrier on the right side of the trestle, increasing the possibility that drivers might strike it.

The only way to really address the merge issue is to rebuild the interchange so that traffic from both the Highway 204 and 20th Street SE ramps have the opportunity to accelerate in their own lanes, then merge together before joining U.S. 2. At this point, there’s no funding for design or construction of a new interchange.

The transportation department has been working with local agencies to look at possible near-term solutions to help improve traffic flow. We are also finalizing a list of other potential improvements as part of a U.S. 2 route development plan. More information about the route development plan is available at http://tinyurl.com/948vzr4.

Look for updates on our Street Smarts blog at www.heraldnet.com/streetsmarts.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.