For holiday, no rotary, no problem

BOURNE -- The Sagamore flyover was billed as the asphalt answer to the infamous backups at the Sagamore Rotary that delayed the start of countless Cape Cod vacations. And for much of yesterday, in its first real test in the heat of summer traffic, it was.

As temperatures soared to record highs and as motorists hauling bicycles, fishing rods, and surfboards flocked to the Cape and Islands for the summer's traditional kickoff weekend, the $60 million flyover eased some of the area's notorious traffic.

At 2 p.m., cars were rolling from Route 3 and Route 6 onto the Sagamore Bridge at a breezy 20 miles per hour, a far cry from the worst of some summers past, when crossing the Cape Cod canal seemed faster on foot than behind the wheel.

At 5:30 p.m., as more motorists hit the highway after work, cars were backed up for about a half-mile before the Sagamore Bridge, far less than the 5 or 6 mile backups that clogged Route 3 on most Friday nights in previous summers, said spokesman John Lamontagne of the Massachusetts Highway Department.

By 7 p.m., cars on Route 3 were backed up 2 miles, he said, still one-third the delay on a busy Friday evening in previous years.

"Things are going smoothly," he said, cautioning that it was still too early in the season to declare the project a complete success. "We're pleased with the progress so far."

While state officials anxiously monitored the flow of cars, many motorists were getting their first glimpse at the new flyover.

Some were clearly pleased.

"It was faster -- I'm sure that's the adjective of the day," said Giorgio Salvitti, 46, a vice president of sales at Florida's Natural Orange Juice, who was waiting for the Nantucket ferry in Hyannis yesterday. Salvitti said the flyover shaved 30 minutes off his usual Friday trip from Revere.

"I could tell it was very different," said Tom Hyland, a tourist from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., who had driven on the flyover for the first time and was in Hyannis yesterday, lounging by the dock with his wife, Sheila. "This has got to be a lot better."

Some visitors however, were less enthusiastic.

Danielle Tracy of Maine, who was waiting for a ferry to Nantucket for a girls weekend with friends, said that while the flyover made her commute easier, the trip over the bridge was still too slow.

"The bridge itself is a bottleneck," Tracy said. "You've got everybody looking north and south, and you'll never win that battle. The ramp onto the bridge is great, but the bridge is the bridge."

Much is riding on the success of the new flyover.

The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce hopes the road will bring more tourism to the Cape and reduce traffic accidents on what it said had been the most dangerous rotary on the Cape. Tourists are hoping for fewer frayed nerves as well.

"We're still very much a tourism destination, and our summer season is critical," said Wendy K. Northcross, chief executive of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. "That's when the bulk of our business comes in. And if people feel less frustrated getting here, we think we might be able to increase our market share here a little bit."

The rotary was built in the 1930s to accommodate 40,000 vehicles a day. State officials first contemplated replacing it in the 1970s, when traffic to the Cape skyrocketed.

In the last several years, pressure reached a breaking point as more than 90,000 cars attempted to squeeze into the rotary on average summer days.

Governor Mitt Romney made construction of the flyover a priority, joking that he would resign in shame if it were not constructed by the end of his first term. It was.

Starting in 2004, road crews tore up the old rotary and replaced it with ramps that allow drivers on Route 3 and Route 6 to get directly onto the Sagamore Bridge. The project was completed in October, and Romney declared it a success. State officials said the flyover would save commuters 20 to 30 minutes getting on the Cape.

"People will no longer have to tear their hair out waiting to cross the bridge," he declared. "I've waited in those long lines. It's no fun."

No one interviewed yesterday missed the old rotary.

"It was a nightmare; even at 9 o'clock and 10 o'clock at night, you could get stuck for hours," said Richard Bulda, 49, a grocer from Easthampton who had come to Hyannis to see a regatta.

Despite the improvement at the Sagamore Bridge, the mass of vehicles moving toward the Cape found other bottlenecks along the route.

At noon, cars were backed up several miles on Route 3 in Hingham, where the highway drops from three lanes to two.

Lydia Verissimo, 84, of New Bedford, said she had fought her way through bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to the Cape on Route 6.

She said she would prefer another way to get to Cape Cod, one that would let her bypass the highway altogether.

"We need to get ourselves a little airplane," she said. "I'm a dreamer."

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.