Weekend Traffic in Real Time

What's happening on regional highways? Whether you're heading to the Vineyard or taking a trip off-Island, check our real-time traffic map to see what's in store on the roads.

Where's the Cheapest Gas on the Vineyard and Cape?

On or off Island, you can use this gas price widget any time to always find the lowest price of the moment, as well as the price at the pump nearest you.

Click here for a full-screen view of the gas price map. If you don't see the Cape and Islands, click the magnifying glass in the upper right to enter a ZIP code. Nationwide, gas prices were predicted to be lower this summer compared to the last three years, but that won't translate into savings at the pump this Memorial Day weekend, experts said. "Motorists this year are facing rising gas prices heading into the Memorial Day holiday," said Michael Green, a AAA spokesman, adding that Memorial Day 2013 would probably be the most expensive since 2011.  In past years, prices have declined heading into early summer as oil refineries produced more gasoline to meet expected summer driving demand. This year, though, Midwest refineries haven't been…

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RMV: No More License Renewal Reminders

Drivers whose licenses are about to expire will no longer receive emailed notices, according to a CBS Local report. Massachusetts drivers stopped receiving renewal notices by mail in 2008.

Five years after the Registry of Motor Vehicles did away with snail mail license expiration reminders, Massachusetts drivers will now find that the email version is gone as well. Drivers whose licenses are about to expire will no longer receive emailed notices, according to CBS Local. The RMV stopped mailing reminders in November 2008. The company that provided the service was recently sold, CBS Local reports. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is looking into restoring the free service and alternative reminder methods, according to the report. Do you need a reminder to renew your driving license? Tell us in the comments. Stay Patched in! Follow Martha's Vineyard Patch on Twitter | Like Martha's Vineyard Patch on Facebook | …

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Brian Simoneau

12:27 am on Sunday, March 17, 2013

In response to this, my law office now provides driver’s license renewal reminders as a free public service. Those interested in receiving these reminders can register by clicking on the driver's license renewal reminder link here: http://www.rmvlawyer.com.   more ›

Update: Wind Advisory Extended to 7 p.m.

Today's heavy rain has brought localized flooding to some Martha's Vineyard streets and roads. A National Weather Service wind advisory has been extended until 7 p.m.

Updated 4;15 p.m.: Drivers on Martha's Vineyard should be aware that there is localized street flooding and that a National Weather Service wind advisory, initially set to expire at 4 p.m., has been extended until 7 p.m.  At midday, the intersection of Barnes Road and Linden in Oak Bluffs had been engulfed by a giant puddle (see photo). Ponding was also observed on County Road just south of Pinewood. If you know of potential hazards on Vineyard roads today, please tell us in the comments. According to the NWS in Taunton, gusty winds this afternoon may down small tree limbs and branches and make driving difficult. Rain and snow showers are in the forecast for the next several days, according to the NWS, but little no no snow acculumation is…

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Vineyard Confidential

The Scarier Reality Show: When Islanders Leave the Rock

If you take a dive into local newspaper or museum archives, you’ll find touching tales from earlier centuries, like the one about the West Tisbury couple who scrimped and saved for seventeen years to pay for a weekend in New Bedford.

There are still a few of them, Islanders who have never departed these hundred square miles stuck in cold New England waters. Every so often you hear about one of them; someone’s great-aunt Jemina who is happy tending her garden down a winding Chilmark lane, with no thought to traveling even to Edgartown, someone else’s grandma who died a virgin to off-island travel. My personal favorite in this breed of Vineyard agoraphobics – not about leaving their homes but about venturing off-island – is Oak Bluffs dweller, Dave Madeiros, formerly that mustachioed man behind the counter at Phillip’s Hardware who, in his own native v. washashore hazing practice, treats you for the first five years of acquaintanceship as a tourist, then finally lets you…

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Louisa Hufstader

6:14 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013

Travel safely and give my regards to Seattle, city of of rain, neon, donuts and two happy hours a day.   more ›

Travel Ban Ends at 4 P.M., Dukes County Official Says

Roads have already been opened on Nantucket and the mainland west of Interstate 91, while the governor's emergency travel ban remains in effect for the rest of Massachusetts until 4 p.m., according to Chuck Cotnoir of Dukes County Emergency Management.

Martha's Vineyard motorists may legally drive at 4 p.m. Saturday, said Chuck Cotnoir of Dukes County Emergency Management. Roads have already been opened on Nantucket and the mainland west of Interstate 91, while the travel ban remains in effect for the rest of Massachusetts until 4 p.m., Cotnoir said. In an emailed bulletin, Cotnoir advised: All motorists MUST be off the roads except for public safety and public works workers, government officials conducting official business, utility workers, healthcare workers who must travel to provide essential, news media.  Travel also is allowed if necessary to maintain and deliver critical private sector services such as energy, fuel supplies and delivery, financial systems and the delivery of …

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