Making the Best of Cape Cod Traffic
by Kayla Dowling
What do you think of when you envision Cape Cod? Is it it the beaches, lighthouses, quaint little towns? Or is it traffic?
Cape Cod is a beautiful place where about 5 million people come to vacation primarily in the summer. As those millions of people travel to the Cape the roads become crowded. There are only two extremely narrow four-lane bridges that connect Cape Cod to the mainland of Massachusetts. To make matters worse at the end and at the beginning of the Bourne Bridge is a roundabout. Roundabouts are the worst. Basically, they replace stop signs or stop lights. As the cars are going around they get off at the right exit.
“ I hit a lady.” said my neighbor Bill Lavacca on his worst experience on a rotary. Rotary’s can be a dangerous place especially if you don't know where you're going.
To a newbie like me, going around a roundabout (or as you locals like to call them, rotaries) is like driving in a different country. People cut you off, drive in the middle of the two lanes, and some just completely stop. Driving around a roundabout for the first time was probably the scariest thing that ever happened to me while driving. The traffic gets backed up because the roundabouts actually squeeze all of the traffic to a halt.
The Sagamore Bridge is the most popular bridge to use because it is straight down the highway from Boston. “I prefer the Sagamore Bridge because it is closer and there is no rotary,” stated Elaine Lavacca on what bridge she prefers when driving on to the Cape. At times, both bridges experience major backup causing the traffic to be gridlocked up for miles and miles. The tourists sometimes sit in traffic for hours. In the summer the tourists are not the only ones affected by traffic; locals are confined to their homes or attractions around them.
And why are our roads all clogged up? The beaches. As for me, being new to the area, the only Cape Cod beach I have been to is Sagamore Beach which is about a two minute walk from my house. The secret rule among locals is to avoid the bridges as much as possible in the summer. They know the backroads. Knowing the backroads is key in driving around in the summer. If the backroads did not exist the likelihood of locals even leaving their house in the summer months would be slim-to-none. My neighbors have their own path to the beach. “I don’t know of any secret beach because we just walk.” said the couple who live in Sagamore Beach.
Traffic on Cape Cod is just a way of life for the locals. When traveling to the Cape in the summer people need to accept traffic. There is no way of avoiding the traffic completely, but knowing when and where to drive on the Cape can help combat the hours of sitting in the traffic.
What do you think of when you envision Cape Cod? Is it it the beaches, lighthouses, quaint little towns? Or is it traffic?
Cape Cod is a beautiful place where about 5 million people come to vacation primarily in the summer. As those millions of people travel to the Cape the roads become crowded. There are only two extremely narrow four-lane bridges that connect Cape Cod to the mainland of Massachusetts. To make matters worse at the end and at the beginning of the Bourne Bridge is a roundabout. Roundabouts are the worst. Basically, they replace stop signs or stop lights. As the cars are going around they get off at the right exit.
“ I hit a lady.” said my neighbor Bill Lavacca on his worst experience on a rotary. Rotary’s can be a dangerous place especially if you don't know where you're going.
To a newbie like me, going around a roundabout (or as you locals like to call them, rotaries) is like driving in a different country. People cut you off, drive in the middle of the two lanes, and some just completely stop. Driving around a roundabout for the first time was probably the scariest thing that ever happened to me while driving. The traffic gets backed up because the roundabouts actually squeeze all of the traffic to a halt.
The Sagamore Bridge is the most popular bridge to use because it is straight down the highway from Boston. “I prefer the Sagamore Bridge because it is closer and there is no rotary,” stated Elaine Lavacca on what bridge she prefers when driving on to the Cape. At times, both bridges experience major backup causing the traffic to be gridlocked up for miles and miles. The tourists sometimes sit in traffic for hours. In the summer the tourists are not the only ones affected by traffic; locals are confined to their homes or attractions around them.
And why are our roads all clogged up? The beaches. As for me, being new to the area, the only Cape Cod beach I have been to is Sagamore Beach which is about a two minute walk from my house. The secret rule among locals is to avoid the bridges as much as possible in the summer. They know the backroads. Knowing the backroads is key in driving around in the summer. If the backroads did not exist the likelihood of locals even leaving their house in the summer months would be slim-to-none. My neighbors have their own path to the beach. “I don’t know of any secret beach because we just walk.” said the couple who live in Sagamore Beach.
Traffic on Cape Cod is just a way of life for the locals. When traveling to the Cape in the summer people need to accept traffic. There is no way of avoiding the traffic completely, but knowing when and where to drive on the Cape can help combat the hours of sitting in the traffic.