YAKIMA, Wash. -- Growing numbers of travelers from across the nation are once again hitting the road.

Over the past couple of years, travelers, in large numbers, have decided to save money and opt for stay-cations.

However, AAA predicts a 10.3 percent increase in car travel this Labor Day weekend from a year ago.

There is also an uptick of about 10 percent expected in overall travel numbers. About 34.4 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles away from home, an increase from last year's 31.3 million.

AAA credits the travel increase to economic growth this year.

These figures are reported even as gas prices are getting worse for travelers. Gas prices are up from last year's state average of $2.92 per gallon to $3.10.

Air travel will only account for 5 percent of overall travel; however, it's still a 4.6 percent increase from last year.

Road work on Interstate 90 near Snoqualmie Pass is being discontinued Friday for the holiday weekend. Rock blasting operations started a few weeks ago to widen the freeway from four to six lanes. Operations will resume Tuesday.

Labor Day weekend and Memorial Day weekend are the heaviest traffic holidays of the year, said Summer Derry of the Washington State Department of Transportation. Usually, there about 200,000 drivers on the pass during those two holiday weekends. A typical weekend has about 50,000.

WSDOT recommends drivers check www.wsdot.wa.gov/Congestion/LaborDay/2010 before traveling. The site provides charts showing the lightest and heaviest traffic times throughout the holiday weekend.

Yakima police and the Washington State Patrol plan to take extra precautions this weekend.

"Drinking and driving is always a concern for law enforcement on holiday weekends," Yakima police Lt. Mike Merryman said. "We'll have officers in a task force assigned on the street looking for impaired drivers."

The State Patrol will have a dozen extra shifts in the Valley this weekend, Lt. Jim Keightley said.

WSP has issued 63 DUIs since the start of its "Drive Hammered, Get Nailed" campaign. Labor Day weekend will mark the end of the campaign.

Friday will be the warmest day of the weekend, reaching almost 90 degrees in the Valley, according to www.weather.com, while Saturday will bring a high of 75 and that number will drop to the upper 60s for Sunday and Monday.

* Viviana Buzo can be reached at 509-577-7675 or vbuzo@yakimaherald.com.