Motorists hitting the road to celebrate the July 4 holiday will be feeling more pinched than last year, shelling out more than $3 a gallon in the North Country.

The nationwide average of $2.90 per gallon is the highest Independence Day price since 2014, when the national average hit $3.66 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com.

A quick check at GasBuddy.com finds gas prices in St. Lawrence County running from $3.03 to $3.19 a gallon. The statewide average is $2.99.

Making holiday travel more sour this year is that another price jump is looming. After five straight weeks of prices dropping, gas prices are likely to increase again ahead of July 4 as oil prices surged to $73 per barrel last week, the highest since 2014.

The difference may not seem significant given that current gas prices are below the peak of $2.98 per gallon hit in May, but over the first four days of July, gas purchases will cost motorists $1.02 billion more than last year. Even with high gas prices, however, most motorists aren’t likely to curtail their travel during the most popular summer holiday, due to its appeal and rich tradition celebrating the nation’s birthday.

The top fear of travelers is overpaying for gasoline, according to GasBuddy’s 2018 Summer Travel Survey. For motorists traveling out of state, GasBuddy urges motorists to check prices before crossing a state line. “Crossing a line can be exciting and fun during summer road trips, until drivers realize that they left cheaper gas prices in the dust. Instead, motorists should mind the state line and find the best side to fill up on,” says Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “In some extreme cases, we’ve seen consumers spend an extra $25 on a single tank when refueling on the wrong side of the line.”