MA Thanksgiving 2022 Travel Forecast: Best, Worst Times To Drive

BOSTON, MA — Like slightly dry turkey and heated political conversations, traffic is an expected Thanksgiving tradition.

In 2022, MassDOT and other travel agencies are predicting a particularly heavy travel week between Monday and turkey day, especially along arteries like the Mass Pike and I-93.

In an annual Thanksgiving travel forecast released Tuesday, AAA predicted that about 54.6 million people will travel 50 miles or more over the holiday, up about 1-1/2 percent compared to 2021. AAA is also predicting that 2022 will be the third-busiest Thanksgiving for travel over the past 22 years, trailing only 2005 and 2019.

About 49 million of those travelers will be going by car, according to AAA. On Wednesday, MassDOT released its own travel forecast for various highways all Thanksgiving week between Monday and Black Friday.

I-93, Braintree to Boston — Tuesday will be the worst day to travel, but every day except Thanksgiving will feature "heavy" traffic.

I-93, Boston to New Hampshire — Northbound and southbound travel will be worst on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but Tuesday will have the heaviest traffic.

I-95, Rhode Island to I-93 — Northbound travel should be OK all week, but southbound traffic will be very heavy, with Wednesday being the most congested day.

I-495, Mass Pike to Route 3 — Should be pretty clear all week, except southbound travel during afternoon hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mass Pike, I-84 to I-495 — On the flip side, the eastbound side of this often clogged stretch of I-90 will be worst on the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving as people return home to the state. But westbound traffic will be bad all week, including Thanksgiving.

MassDOT will also take steps to prevent added delays by stopping all construction on Tuesday, and by keeping the I-93 HOV lanes between Boston and Quincy open for extra afternoon hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. MassDOT also will not use the Sumner Tunnel swing lane on Thursday and Friday due to increased Logan Airport traffic.

On the public transit side, the MBTA will be operating on holiday schedules around Thanksgiving. However, the T will add Silver Line trips this weekend and the weekend after Thanksgiving due to increased Logan travelers.