9/5/09 MA Highway Dept.: Public allowed access to live traffic cams

Before you head out on the road today to your Labor Day weekend barbeque destination, you can see for yourself exactly how packed your route is about to be.

The Mass Highway Department announced Thursday that it will allow the public access to its internal system of 70 live traffic cameras on the agency's website. The cameras show traffic at the Braintree split, on I-93 from Somerville to Canton, I-95 from Westwood to Wakefield, and Route 3 from Burlington to the New Hampshire border and the mainland side of the Sagamore Bridge in Bourne.

The Mass Highway Department will halt construction projects on the state's highways for the weekend.

Historically the heaviest Labor Day traffic on the Mass Pike is this Thursday and Friday in the westbound direction, and Monday in the eastbound direction from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. - with especially heavy traffic at the exit to I-495, which handles cars heading south to the Cape and north to New Hampshire and Maine. Officials are estimating 40 thousand vehicles to use this interchange today.

Highway officials are also reminding people to expect delays Friday afternoon heading south on Route 3, and building up again on Monday heading north.

 You can see those traffic cams at www.mass.gov/511/cameras