Question by Harry: What time is afternoon rush hour in Boston?
My friend needs to get to an evening flight at Logan(driving up from the cape cod area). Any insights into rush hour so they can plan appropriately?
I read on a traffic website:
“Callahan Tunnel Outbound: Road construction during the night until 5:00 am tomorrow on-ramp from Haymarket. Ramp closed. Follow the detour to I-93 South and exit off at Exit 24. Expect delays. ”
Would this affect my friend? How much added travel time would rush hour add, and how to avoid it?
Best answer:
Answer by Jim G
I would avoid Boston traffic from 4pm til around 615
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Tagged with: afternoon • Boston • hour • rush • time • What
Filed under: Website Traffic
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more like 3 – 7. I have been in it at those times the past few weeks.
Affect Ah but that he’d better wait till the next day pass
Harry, I wish there was an easy answer to this, but a good rule of thumb is to ALWAYS expect there to be a ton of traffic in Boston. I’ve hit total bumper to bumper many times at 3 pm, yet times when I expected it, like 6 pm, and traffic has moved fine. So often all it takes is one fender bender or a few snowflakes and traffic is at a standstill.
So that said, you have to get there. And with air travel turning into such a pain you can no longer be late. So much as I hate to say it, I’d leave as early as you possibly can. The GOOD news is this time of year traffic from the Cape until you reach the Expressway should be fairly light, and you’ll be going against the rush hour to get there. And the majority of your trip is on Rt. 3 (assuming that’s how you’ll head up from the Cape).
Wish you posted what time the flight was. That would help me guess in what time I’d leave at. For example if the flight’s at 6 pm I’d allow more time than if it’s at 8 pm. BTW are you sure the info you posted about the tunnel is current and the website updated? That sounds like the mess we endured during The Big Dig.
I think to intelligently decide how long you need to do it close to the day. You need to see if weather is a factor. Any snow and you MUST add more time. How much depends on the forecast. Then I’d definitely check a few of the top traffic sites (I’ll list the links below) that will tell you what the current traffic is. Though it can change, it will let you know if there is already a problem to allow more time for. They list the current drive times to get through the tunnels etc. So you can figure out how long regular driving time takes from where you are, factor in what it says, then I’d add at least an extra 45 min for good measure. That’s the best I can do not knowing more specific details. It’s impossible to guess how long you should allow when I don’t know where you are driving from, and the other stuff I mentioned earlier.
As for avoiding it, not much you can do with the direction you are traveling. There are some shortcuts if you were coming from other directions, but not any really good ones from the Cape. One thought…if it sounds like there are traffic problems, if your friend doesn’t have much luggage, you might want to think about dropping the friend at the T (Quincy Adams right at the end of Rt. 3 would make a lot of sense), cause the T moves when cars don’t. Of course this depends on how much luggage they have and if they want this option.
Depends on what time his/her flight is? If you need to drive around Boston any time between 3-6ish I would add 1 1/2 hours to your normal commute, more if its bad weather.
Just an add-on that may come in handy. WBZ Radio AM 1030/FM (WODS) 103.3 HD-3 broadcasts traffic reports every 10 minutes at (hour):03.hh:13, hh:23, hh:33, hh:43 and hh:53. This may help enroute.
4pm-6pm