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Long backups to the Cape on Thursday ahead of beautiful weekend

Traffic was heavy on 93 South in Boston and most of the way down to the Cape for the holiday weekend. Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe

With good weather in the forecast for the Fourth of July weekend, some people seemed to be making an early getaway Thursday. Traffic rolled slowly for much of the day on major routes heading south from Boston.

Traffic was slow on Interstate 93 South and on Route 3 South and tied up near the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, the gateways to Cape Cod, according to the boston.com traffic information service.

State Police said shortly after 4 p.m. that traffic was backed up 6 1/2 miles heading east on Route 25 at the Bourne Bridge and about 2 miles on Route 3 South before the Sagamore Bridge.

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Data provided by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation indicated that the commute time on Thursday on Route 3 from the Braintree split to the Cape Cod Canal was greater than on Thursday, July 3, 2014, peaking at around 2 p.m.

Lieutenant Daniel Richard, a State Police spokesman, said Thursday morning that traffic woes had been heightened by a minor motor vehicle crash on Route 6 on Cape Cod.

“Fourth of July weekend in the summer coupled with even a small motor vehicle crash, what you end up with is three miles of traffic,” Richard said. “A small crash on this weekend — forget about it.”

Richard also reminded drivers to be mindful that traffic is likely to be bad around Boston as people come into the city for Fourth of July activities Saturday on the Esplanade.

“I suspect as we get closer to the weekend traffic backups will get worse. We ask everyone to take their time driving,” Richard said.

Heavy traffic can be expected Friday at the Interstate 84 interchange at Exit 9 in Sturbridge, as well as Exit 11A on Interstate 495, where cars are heading south to Cape Cod, or north to New Hampshire and Maine, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said in an e-mail.

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The high-occupancy vehicle zipper lane on Interstate 93 will remain open Thursday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., and all construction “on major arterial highways” will be suspended from Thursday at noon to Monday at noon, MassDOT said.

Drivers can check the MassDOT live traffic cameras on the agency’s website or the free RideWise smartphone app for more traffic information.

Those who finally make it to their vacation destinations will enjoy good weather this long weekend, the National Weather Service said.

“We should have seasonable temperatures right around the upper 70s and lower 80s. No high humidity in sight,” said Bill Simpson, a weather service meteorologist.

There is little to no chance of rain ruining holiday barbecues, and nighttime temperatures will be comfortable and cool with clear skies for viewing fireworks, forecasters said.

“The South Coast and Cape and Islands might see an increase in clouds Friday night, maybe a shower or two, but still mostly sunny,” Simpson said.

He said any chance of rain is minimal, making it a perfect weekend to be outdoors.

“We’re lucking out for a while,” Simpson said.

Highs Thursday and Friday will get up to the low 80s dropping back down to the low 60s at night.

On Independence Day, temperatures will be in the high 70s and settle down to the low 60s again at night.

High temperatures on Sunday and Monday will creep up into the mid-80s, and lows will be in the low 60s.

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Sarah Roberts can be reached at sarah.roberts@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @heysarahroberts