Holiday frenzy causes 45-mile backup on Mass. Turnpike, State Police say

By Melanie Dostis, Globe Correspondent

Bay State travelers heading west for the holiday weekend experienced massive delays as part of a 45-mile backup on the Massachusetts Turnpike Friday that is believed to be one of the worst traffic jams on the highway in years.

The state Department of Transportation had warned drivers to expect delays because of the backup, which ran from Charlton to Boston and from Exit 19 to Exit 9. The traffic tie-up was slowly clearing up Friday night, State Police and DOT said.

David Procopio, State Police spokesman, said that despite some car accidents and disabled vehicles throughout the day, the high volume of traffic was due mainly to people traveling for the Columbus Day holiday weekend.

“It’s one of the heaviest traffic days we’ve seen this year,” he said.

Leila Amerling recounted her bus ride from Boston to Pittsfield, inching very slowly down the highway. Her trip home, which takes three-and-a-half hours, lasted six hours on Friday, she said.

“ [I] didn’t realize what I was getting myself into until we hit the Pike about 15 minutes out of Boston,” Amerling, 30, said. “[This is] one of the main reasons why I don’t even drive in this state.”

The heavy congestion was gradually clearing with cars moving at approximately 35 miles per hour as of 7:30 p.m., said Michael Verseckes, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation.

Yet, those in the Sturbridge/Charlton area were still struggling to get home as traffic volume remained high as of 8:15 p.m., Procopio added.

He predicted the heavy traffic would clear later into the night.

“This is one of the biggest weekends for travel,” said Verseckes. “There was a substantial backup with people leaving work early and trying to get the most of the weekend.”

Verseckes said tolls would have to be calculated after the weekend frenzy in order to determine if this was the worst traffic jam the state has ever seen.