Eight places to start the day on the Cape

Crossing the canal

OK, you think, let’s pack the car tonight, set the clock, and get over the bridge before the backup starts. Smart idea. What time do you need to get there? Looks as if 6 a.m. might be a little late. The Massachusetts Highway Department has detectors that count the number of cars crossing the Bourne and Sagamore bridges over the Cape Cod Canal every hour of every day. On a typical summer weekday morning between 6 and 7, a Cape-bound car crosses the Sagamore very 3 seconds. If it’s late morning, make that less than every 2 seconds. And if it’s a Saturday at noon, it’s nearly one car every second. If you cross between 5 and 6 a.m., you’ll hit about a third the traffic you would an hour later. ‘‘Or even 4 or 3 in the morning,’’ says Lev Malakhoff, transportation engineer with the Cape Cod Commission. ‘‘Those are all good times.’’

(Bill Greene/Globe Staff)
Crossing the canal OK, you think, let’s pack the car tonight, set the clock, and get over the bridge before the backup starts. Smart idea. What time do you need to get there? Looks as if 6 a.m. might be a little late. The Massachusetts Highway Department has detectors that count the number of cars crossing the Bourne and Sagamore bridges over the Cape Cod Canal every hour of every day. On a typical summer weekday morning between 6 and 7, a Cape-bound car crosses the Sagamore very 3 seconds. If it’s late morning, make that less than every 2 seconds. And if it’s a Saturday at noon, it’s nearly one car every second. If you cross between 5 and 6 a.m., you’ll hit about a third the traffic you would an hour later. ‘‘Or even 4 or 3 in the morning,’’ says Lev Malakhoff, transportation engineer with the Cape Cod Commission. ‘‘Those are all good times.’’
New England summer guide

New England summer guide

Find sunny beaches, wild rides, and local hot spots.