The merge is on the other side of the bridge from the flyover, the two-year project completed in October that replaced the roundabout at the intersection of Routes 3 and 6, which traditionally tied up Cape-bound traffic.
Officials said the holiday weekend began with no problems at the flyover, which gives Cape-bound drivers a straight shot to the Sagamore Bridge. In fact, officials said, the traffic improvement and the publicity about it might have encouraged more people to go to the Cape. More hotels and motels sold out than for a typical Memorial Day, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce said yesterday.
But on Monday, improving weather lulled many families into staying later, resulting in thousands trying to leave during the same few hours that afternoon.
Backups ranged from 2 to 17 miles on Route 6 and lasted from 11 a.m. to past 8 p.m., officials said. At one point around 3 p.m., Route 6 traffic heading off the Cape stretched to Yarmouth. An afternoon five-vehicle crash in Hyannis between Exits 5 and 6 made things worse. Roads parallel to Route 6, often a way to get around traffic, were clogged, as well. Local residents reported having to wait to pull out of their driveways on to those roads.
The O'Keeffe family of Weston was one of those headed nowhere fast. Elizabeth O'Keeffe, 45, put her 17-year-old daughter behind the wheel for her first drive from Hyannisport to home. Her son whiled away the 1 1/2-hour drive from Exit 6 to the Sagamore Bridge quizzing his sister for an upcoming chemistry test. That portion of their drive normally takes 25 minutes.
"To my recollection this was the worst I have ever experienced," O'Keeffe said by phone.
Tom Mason of Lakeville celebrated his 45th birthday in the traffic with his wife and two young daughters, who were in an another car and turned around to meet him at the Burger King off Exit 6 to escape the slowdown. The family stayed there and at the Cape Cod Mall for four hours until traffic eased.
