BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick is saying that severe traffic jams on the Massachusetts Turnpike over the Easter weekend are a sign of how dire the Turnpike Authority's finances are, and motorists may be in for worse down the line.

Thousands of motorists were stuck in backups for hours because the agency said it decided not to pay overtime to replace toll takers who called in sick.

Traffic was backed up six to seven miles at the interchange with Route 128 in Weston.

Some motorists questioned whether the sick calls and resulting traffic backups amounted to a job action or a state ploy to get more drivers to sign up for the FastLane transponder program. The Turnpike's executive director denied those charges.

"There was absolutely nothing devious going on here. We're just running it as close to the edge as we can run it," Alan LeBovidge said, explaining that there was no money in the budget to pay overtime, so toll takers could not be replaced.

As a result, on Easter Sunday many drivers were stranded for hours. Even FastLane users were stuck in traffic.

Cindy Simone said getting from East Boston to Franklin and back took her five hours.

"It's a Sunday, that's their job. It's ridiculous that it's Easter and you know the crowd's going to be there," Simone said.

"All I know is that in the private sector if you pulled a stunt like this you wouldn't have a job the next day," said driver Ron Nelson, who was stuck in the backups.

Patrick said the backups merely reflect the state's dire financial situation.

"Every dollar counts at this point in time and I'm doing everything I can in this point in time to save money and conserve cash because of our situation," LeBovidge said.

He added that Memorial Day weekend traffic is likely to be just as bad and motorists should plan accordingly.

Patrick said "there are real consequences and hardship" to the state and turnpike budget deficits.

A Turnpike Authority spokesman did not know how many toll takers called in sick. LeBovidge said if the Pike determines there was an abuse of sick time policy, workers could face disciplinary action.