Traffic during the coming Independence Day weekend is expected to be the heaviest in about a decade, according to a survey from Triple-A Iowa, where Dawn Duffy is spokeswoman. She says nationally, nearly 37-and-a-half million people are expected to take trips of at least 50 miles from home during the coming weekend, the highest number in nine years. Duffy says several factors are coming into play in the prediction. She says a lot of people have been focusing more on “cocooning” since the September 11th attacks, but on the holiday celebrating America’s independence, more people are traveling within the U.S. and spending time with family. Duffy says gasoline prices should remain stable for the next few months. For the past few months, gas prices have been hovering between $1.45 and $1.50 per gallon and she says that’ll likely hold for much of the summer, though that’s a little higher than a year ago. Duffy says most of us will be hitting the road, not the runway. Of the anticipated 37-and-a-half million travelers, just over 32-and-a-half million are expected to be traveling in motor vehicles, four-point-three million by plane, and one-half million by bus or train. Duffy says motor vehicle traffic is expected to be by up two-percent while air travel will likely be down by two percent.