This morning’s commute spelled the end of the two-week “holiday” traffic mode. The light volume that commuters had enjoyed for the past few weeks is over now that everyone is back to work and school. Weatherwise, it was not the best day to have a resurgence of heavy traffic volume. Windswept rain made for visibility issues and slower speeds, which translated into backups and travel times that were double or triple the norm. As we always say at SmartRoutes, if you want a bad commute, just add water! As you know, stopping distances are greater on wet roads, thus we have more accidents if people don’t leave enough room between their car and the one in front. Accidents cause backups, backups cause longer drivetimes, etc.

Where was the worst traffic, you ask? Well, Route 93 takes the cake. All morning long, there were southbound delays that began in Methuen and ended at Sullivan Square. South of town, Route 128 was a tedious one hour ride from Braintree to the Pike. Really, every major roadway saw its share of problems, but better news came after 9:30 AM when all that volume started to ease off.