Traffic & Transit

MA Labor Day Traffic Frenzy: What MassDOT Is Doing To Prepare

Here's what MassDOT is doing with traffic volumes expected to rise sharply starting Thursday ahead of Labor Day.

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If you know, you know: the Sagamore and Bourne bridges will probably pretty jammed this Labor Day weekend.
If you know, you know: the Sagamore and Bourne bridges will probably pretty jammed this Labor Day weekend. (Haley Cornell/Patch)

BOSTON, MA — You might already be looking at the clock wondering when you can head out of the long weekend. And you're not alone.

Traffic ahead of the Labor Day long weekend is expected to start picking up on Thursday, clogging the usual trouble spots: I-93, the Mass Pike near I-84, the Cape Cod bridges, routes to Logan Airport and many more key thruways.

MassDOT is urging travelers to plan ahead to mitigate traffic jams. One key travel change will happen on Friday when the Sumner Tunnel is expected to reopen after a summerlong closure.

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RELATED: MA Labor Day Travel 2023: Gas Prices, Best Times To Travel

Here are some measures the state is taking to hopefully reduce traffic, according to a MassDOT news release:

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  • Shutting down scheduled, non-emergency construction outside of fixed work zones for the Labor Day travel period effective at 5 a.m. Scheduled road work will then resume at the start of normal business hours on Tuesday.
  • Deploying the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane on I-93 between Boston and Quincy earlier than usual in the afternoons: opening at 2 p.m. on Thursday and 1 p.m. on Friday. The HOV lane will have normal morning hours Thursday and Friday and will be closed in the morning and afternoon on Monday.
  • The additional “swing lane” on Route 1A southbound at the Sumner Tunnel will not be deployed on Monday, and will resume normal deployment on Tuesday.
  • The Sumner Tunnel is scheduled to reopen on Friday and will be open for the duration of the holiday weekend.

Public transit in Massachusetts will be available all weekend, but will have some schedule changes on Labor Day:

  • All MBTA subway lines, bus routes, and the RIDE will operate on a Sunday schedule.
  • The commuter rail will operate on a weekend schedule.
  • The Hingham-Hull-Logan Airport-Long Wharf ferry will operate on a Sunday schedule. There will be no Hingham–Rowes Wharf ferry service.
  • The Charlestown Ferry and the East Boston Ferry will operate on a weekend schedule.
  • There will be no Lynn ferry or Winthrop ferry service.
  • The CharlieCard Store will be closed.

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