allison46

I am planning on driving from Boston to Cape Cod (Falmouth area) arriving around 2pm on Saturday, August 5th. I have read several posts about traffic leaving Cape Cod on Saturday but what about trying to arrive on a Saturday?

karens

I have heard that traffic is bad both coming and going on Sat. on the Cape - rentals turn over on Sat. Not to mention the people coming just for the weekend...

allison46

With that in mind, would it be better to arrive in the morning or wait until later in the afternoon? We are staying in Falmouth. Are there two routes in or just one?

rkkwan

There are two bridges to get on Cape Cod - the Sagamore and the Bourne. Usually, traffic is worse on the Sagamore, which comes down straight from Boston on Rte 3.

Since you're going to Falmouth, which is the SW Cape Cod, you should take the Bourne instead. From Boston, take I-93 to Rte 24 South (towards Fall River), then I-495 South to the bridge.

Also listen to Boston news/talk radio stations on the AM dial. Then usually will have traffic info on the bridges.

Jayneann

Usually, it's better to wait until the afternoon! However, one never knows!!!!

gail

Depends on weather - you have the advantage of Falmouth being at beginning of Cape.

Weekly rentals on the Cape - mass exodus in AM when people are timed out of rental. Then later in AM/early PM next week renters descend on Cape. Those not tied to weekly rentals generally arrive Friday PM or early Sat AM. So the later in the day the better. The better the weather, the earlier people arrive and the later they leave - and the exiters can be relevant since they can create extra traffic around rotaries/traffic circles around bridges.

That said, I usually leave very early Sat AM and deal with the traffic - but I am a few hours away, so it depends on driving distance.

cantstayhome

If you're stuck with Saturday, I would recommend doing either super early in the morning, or wait until very late afternoon. As a previous poster said, it's the turnover day that kills you. Even better, if you can go the night before, we typically leave Friday evenings around 8 p.m. and have no problem with traffic.

Don't know when you are leaving, but going back Sundays is tricky, too.

allison46

How much time are we talking about being tied up in traffic? Would it be hours or just slow moving as we approach? I am tied into Saturday - my thought is to try to arrive between 3pm and 4pm. Am I still going to be in massive traffic jams?

cybor

One never knows on the Cape. Generally, most cottages have a check in time of 3pm and check out of 10am or similar. But there's also other beach and local traffic to think about as well.
As someone else rec. I try to get onto the cape very early (be over the bridge) by 7:30 - 8:00am. If you wait until afternoon you may hit the afternoon arrivals and those out and about going to lunch, up to PTown, Hyannis, Falmouth or wherever. Due to old and fairly narrow roads you'll also come to a screaming halt if there's an accident or the ever present construction. This traffic can be halted for miles before the bridges.
Good luck!

gail

In regards to how long a delay - expect a trip about twice as long as you would find if there were no traffic - so if you are going to Mapquest or something similar, double time. But as previous poster stated, one accident can mess it up for longer.

You are talking about traffic that moves, but at an excruciatingly slow pace.

mahs

We travel to the Cape regularly ... when we have left before 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning we usually get no more than 1 to 1 l/2 mile back up .. which adds anywhere from ten minutes to 20 minutes ... If you can't leave that early then I would suggest sometime after 3:00 as most of the renters are probably on Cape as welland day trippers are also already

mahs

Sorry ... continue
Day trippers would already be on Cape as well ... From Boston .. if you head down Route 3 after 3:00 or so .. you should be fine ... because most people are already there and for those interested in the night life it is a bit early .. Now truth is no really knows for sure .. Holiday weekends are the worse .. and July is worse than August .. so I would honestly think you won't have more than a fifteen tie up if that .. Let us know .. !

allison46

Thnaks!!!

stellablue

If you are going to Falmouth you should take the I-93 to 24 to 495 route that was suggested. If you travel late morning (for a 2pm arrival) you will hit stop-and-go traffic approaching the Bourne bridge, probably 2-3 miles from the bridge. (You may also find yourself in rubberbanding traffic on 495 from Bridgewater to Wareham but it will move between 45-65). If you want to avoid the pre-bridge traffic, you can get off at the second exit 1 (495 has an exit 1 before it turns into rte25 which then starts with exit 1 and goes to exit 2 right before the bridge - don't ask me why, just take the "Wareham, Onset Beach" exit). After getting off the exit you will be on rte 28 which goes through east Wareham and Buzzards Bay before reaching the bridge. It takes about the same amount of time as sitting in traffic but you could stop for lunch (the Lobster Pot or Barnacle Bills for easy take out, or Lindsey's for sit-down), or for supplies at the Stop & Shop and Walmart in Wareham.

Once you are over the Bourne bridge you will not hit traffic until you get to Falmouth (10 miles or so).