Police Called To Gas Stations Lowering Prices

[matcom]

<snip>

HAVERHILL - The city's gasoline wars forced a visit from police - not to calm tempers but to solve traffic problems caused by drivers looking to save money.

According to the gas-price watcher Web site MassachusettsGasPrices.com, Prime gas station and its neighbor, Irving gas, both on Route 125 near the North Andover line, were home to the cheapest gasoline in Massachusetts for a 48-hour stretch that ended about 11 a.m. yesterday.

During that time, Prime was selling a gallon of regular grade gas for $2.73, while Irving's price was $2.75.

Drivers trying to avoid prices of about $3 per gallon almost everywhere else converged on the self-serve gas stations in such numbers that police sent a cruiser to monitor the street in front of the two stations for traffic problems.

"We received a number of complaints of backups caused by cars going in and out of Irving, which is on a high-speed road that gets lots of traffic anyway," Sgt. John Arahovites said. "We sent one officer up there for a brief time around 10 (a.m. Tuesday)."

By noon yesterday, a gallon of gas was back up to $2.97 at Prime and $2.99 at Irving.

Another Haverhill gas station, Hess in Monument Square, also cracked the Web site's 10 cheapest gas prices yesterday at $2.93 per gallon.

By contrast, the most expensive gas in the state, $3.29 per gallon, can be found at the Shell station on Totten Pond Road in Waltham, according to the gas price Web site.

http://www.eagletribune.com/punewshh/local_story_150093820

[NewJeffCT]

1. and pretty soon

it turns into a real life "Mad Max"