This Fourth of July weekend will likely be filled with food, fireworks and travel as many take to the roads or hop on a plane over this upcoming holiday weekend.

More than 43 million travelers are expected to travel this weekend, an all-time record, according to the AAA, and with Interstate 20 cutting through Vicksburg, the city will likely get its fair share of holiday traffic.

“I’m thinking we’re going to be busy for July Fourth,” Rick Martin, visitor services manager for the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. “I’ve got a ton of people who have requested visitor guides that I’m catching up on. We’ve had people call today (asking), ‘What’s going on in Vicksburg for July Fourth?’”

The AAA estimates 85 percent of the holiday travelers will take to their cars to get to their destinations this weekend, a slight increase from last year that is aided by the lowest Fourth of July gas prices in more than a decade. The national average for a gallon of gas stands at $2.31.

“We are well on our way for 2016 to be a record-breaking year for summertime travel,” said Marshall Doney, AAA President and CEO. “This trend is welcome news for the travel industry and a sign that Americans are taking to our nation’s highways and skies like never before.”

Martin said the visitor’s center located across the street from the Vicksburg National Military Park entrance will have extra staff in “anticipation for more people, more visitors.”

The Mississippi Highway Patrol has also planned accordingly for the large holiday crowds, hoping to reduce the number of accidents on the roads.

“In everyone’s life there is that someone that you have lost due to an accident in some certain kind of way,” said Cpl. Brandon Fortenberry, a public affairs officer with the state highway patrol. “We ask that you will be vigilant and responsible as you drive to your destinations. The highways are one of the most dangerous places some might come in contact with. You can change that by the decisions you make.”

Fortenberry’s charge to drivers to be alert, reactive and responsible will be matched by extra precautions from the MHP. He said troopers would be flooding areas prone to accidents from 6 p.m. July 1 through midnight July 4.

The special trooper detail will include driver’s license checkpoints, speed details and DUI enforcement, he added.

Fines will increase from $25 to $100 and will be strictly enforced to combat distracted driving. In 2015, the MHP investigated 138 crashes with 2 fatalities and made 125 DUI arrests on state and federal highway systems throughout the holiday period, according to information from MHP.

“Be the person that makes proactive decisions and help officers not make that knock on a loved one’s door telling them their husband, wife, or child is not coming home,” Fortenberry said.