Saucon Source (https://sauconsource.com/tag/gas-prices/)
The recent mild weather the Lehigh Valley area has enjoyed has inspired thoughts of summertime travel, but one look at the price of gas could mean a buzzkill for anyone with a yen for hitting the road in the near future.
Local gas prices remain high compared with prices in other states, but when compared with what gas cost a few months ago the current price is a bargain.
Have you felt like you’re paying more at the pump recently? Your mind is not deceiving you. Gas prices for the Allentown area are up roughly 30 cents per gallon compared to what they were this time last year.
With Memorial Day and the start of the summer travel season a little more than a month away, gas prices in Hellertown are spiking to their highest level in nearly six months.
Saucon Valley residents and Americans in general are feeling more pain at the gas pumps. The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the Lehigh Valley is currently $2.99/gal., which is the highest it has been in about three-and-a-half years.
As residents continue to settle into the year 2015 amid very cold weather, gas prices continue to fall, both nationally and in the Saucon Valley. As of late Friday, prices for regular unleaded gasoline at the six stations in the Hellertown-Lower Saucon area hovered in the are of $2.45 per gallon. The lowest-priced gas was available along the Route 378 corridor, where Exxon on the Run and Hess were selling regular unleaded gas for $2.42 per gallon. The average price in the Lehigh Valley according to AllentownGasPrices.com is currently $2.49/gal., which is significantly lower than the average Lehigh Valley price on year ago ($3.55/gal.) but significantly higher than the current national average: $2.16/gal. New fuel taxes enacted to help pay for costly repairs to roads and bridges in Pennsylvania have increased the price of gas in the Keystone state.
Saucon Valley motorists are getting an early Christmas present this year in the form of dramatically lower gas prices; and prices are continuing to fall. As of Saturday, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline hovered in the area of $2.71 at the Saucon Valley’s six stations. That price is in line with the current average price per gallon throughout the Lehigh Valley, which is $2.72, according to the website AllentownGasPrices.com. In contrast, a year ago the average price per gallon in the Allentown area was 70 cents higher, or $3.42 per gallon. Nationally, the current average price of gasoline is lower than it is in the Lehigh Valley and throughout Pennsylvania, in part because of state taxes.
For the first time in years regular unleaded gasoline is selling for less than $3 per gallon at many local filling stations, including all six Saucon Valley gas stations. As of late Sunday afternoon, the cheapest gas in the local area was available at Citgo, 1020 Main St., Hellertown, where a gallon of regular cost $2.93, according to the website AllentownGasPrices.com. Other local gas prices (for regular) as of late Sunday were as follows:
Sunoco, 701 Main St., Hellertown – $2.97
Topstar Exxon, 1570 Main St., Hellertown – $2.97
Klein’s Sunoco, 1169 Main St., Hellertown – $2.98
Exxon on the Run, 3655 Rt. 378, Bethlehem – $2.89
Hess, 3622 Rt. 378, Bethlehem – $2.89
According to AllentownGasPrices.com, the cheapest regular gas in the Lehigh Valley is currently being sold at BJ’s and Sam’s Club near Allentown, where a gallon of regular unleaded is selling for $2.84.