Hitting the Road for Labor Day Weekend? Here’s When to Leave

0.7 min readBy Maureen DahillPublished On: September 3rd, 2026Categories: News0 Comments

Heading out of town for Labor Day Weekend? You might want to get an early start.

AAA released its Labor Day Weekend travel forecast, and the best advice is pretty simple: avoid hitting the road in the middle of the afternoon. If you’re traveling Thursday, try to leave before 1pm. On Friday, get going before noon, and on Saturday, aim to be on the road before 10am.

If you’re heading south on I-95 toward Providence, Friday afternoon could be especially rough. Peak congestion is expected around 3:30pm, when a drive that normally takes less than an hour could stretch to about 90 minutes.

Bottom line: pack the car, grab your coffee, and hit the road early!

Below is MassDOT’s traffic alert:

Maureen Dahill

Maureen Dahill is the founder of Caught in Media. Once a longtime wardrobe and prop stylist for brands such as Rue La La, TJ Max & Hasbro, she is a devoted lover of vintage clothing, Martini Mondays, Castle Island, AND a 4th generation South Boston native. Mother of three, married to Peter G.

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