Gas tops $4 a gallon on Aspen’s Main Street

ASPEN - Drivers might want to take a trip to the Internet before going out to buy gasoline these days.

Some bigger cities have Web sites with the latest prices.

Headed to Aspen? You definitely should consider filling up before hitting town.

On Friday, stations in Aspen had prices from $4.07 to $4.09 a gallon for unleaded, a record.

“Every city in Colorado that we surveyed set an alltime record (Friday) for regular unleaded gasoline,” AAA Colorado spokesman Eric Escudero told the Aspen Daily News. “The only exception was Glenwood Springs, which set its all-time high on Thursday.”

Nationally, the price also set a record, $3.129 per gallon, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

“This is crazy,” A.C. Cabral told the Aspen Daily News as he filled up at the Shell station on Main Street, which is also known as The Aspen Store. “Some say it’s because of Bush. I don’t know. There are a lot of crazy things going on in the world.”

Escudero said Aspen’s prices were the highest. Vail was selling regular for $3.50.

Producers have blamed war in the Mideast and refinery outages. Colorado’s gas is the 11th-most expensive in the nation, said Escudero.

The prices aren’t expected to keep people home this summer, though they might take the sedan instead of the SUV.

“Travelers find other ways to save money such as staying in less expensive hotels, eating at less expensive restaurants, or traveling closer to home,” said Sandra Barnes of AAA Colorado.