Gas prices climbed to .05 at Westside 66 & Car Wash, 2815 W. 6th, on Tuesday, July 8, 2008, despite oil falling more than a barrel over two days.

It had to happen. Lawrence now has joined the ranks of other cities whose drivers are paying more than $4 a gallon for gas.

On Tuesday, motorists filling up at the Phillips 66 gasoline station at Sixth Street and Schwarz Road were paying $4.05 for regular unleaded gasoline.

“Apparently if they (oil companies) are posting billion-dollar profits, something isn’t right,” Matthias Wilson, a Kansas City, Mo., resident said as he filled up.

And while Lawrence drivers might not be used to paying more than $4 a gallon, Wilson noted his gasoline would have cost at least a nickel more in Kansas City.

Gasoline prices are catching the attention of some local residents, who are changing their driving habits.

“It’s a little outrageous, but it’s something we’ve gotta live with,” Vance Freeman said, pumping more than $70 of gasoline into his pickup truck. “I take my trips around town; I fill everything in as I go and get to all the spots that way.”

As gasoline prices continue to increase, commuters are finding even more ways to change their driving habits.

“We’re seeing that people are paying attention to the trips they take, what vehicles they drive and how fast they’re driving,” AAA spokesman Jim Hanni said.

With no sharp decline in prices in sight, some people are rerouting their summer vacations.

“Vacation-wise we were going to drive to Texas, but now we’re going to Colorado instead, making it a shorter trip,” Freeman said.