There is good news for people who will be traveling over the Memorial Day holiday.

To ease congestion on the roads, the Georgia Department of Transportation is suspending construction-related lane closures on interstates and major highways beginning at noon on Friday May 22 through 5 a.m. Tuesday May 26.

GDOT Director of Construction Jeff Baker says "We hope the suspension of major construction work will allow motorists to get to and from their holiday destinations with less congestion and less aggravation."  He goes on to say "This is the first holiday of the summer travel season and many people are hitting the road.  We want to make it a little easier for them to travel throughout the state."

Memorial Day weekend is always one of the busiest travel times of the year.  With traffic deaths up an average of 25% compared to last year, GDOT has already announced its Drive Alert, Drive Alive campaign, urging people to wear seatbelts, stay off the phone on focus on driving.

Georgia motorists will pay much less for gas this year compared to last Memorial Day weekend.

GasBuddy's survey of more than 2,100 stations in metro Atlanta finds prices are up nearly 8-cents a gallon in the past week, averaging $2.69.  This compares to a national average of $2.71.

Despite the increase, prices are almost a full dollar per gallon less than at this time a year ago.  Prices have risen more than 30-cents in the past month.

Patrick Dehaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst, says "The rise we've seen in the national average over the month is showing signs of fading."  He says "While higher demand is expected for this Memorial Day weekend, crude oil inventories remain higher than a year ago."