Beaches Hit Vehicle Capacity On Busy Fourth Of July

Despite some clouds, fog, and a little rain, people flocked to Nantucket's beaches on the Fourth of July, with Nobadeer and 40th Pole once again the most popular destinations.

The Nantucket Police Department closed 40th Pole to vehicles at 10:56 a.m., stating it had reached capacity while allowing beachgoers on foot. Just over an hour later, they did the same at Nobadeer. But in the early afternoon, the people and cars were still coming to Nobadeer, so they took it a step further and closed the south shore beach to foot traffic.

"Neighbors and surrounding streets could not support the volume of cars that wanted to park and walk to the beach," Nantucket Police Lt. Angus MacVicar said. "That was becoming unmanageable, and it was restricting access to the side roads and preventing emergency access vehicles from passing by."

In response, officers set up three checkpoints around the area to reroute traffic attempting to get to Nobadeer. Despite the volume of vehicles and people, there was only one arrest during the daytime hours of July 4th, and it occurred as a result of a motor vehicle violation, MacVicar said, not at the beaches.

The Nantucket Police Department had assistance from a handful of Massachusetts State Police Troopers who traveled from the mainland to Nantucket Tuesday morning on the Steamship Authority. A total of four State Police cruisers made the trip over.

But overall, MacVicar said the day went relatively smoothly from a public safety perspective.

"The calls for service were normal," he said. "We were busy, but not as busy as some August days. It's the midweek effect," MacVicar added, referring to the Fourth of July holiday falling on a Tuesday.