BOSTON -- Some holiday travelers got off to a rough start this weekend when they got caught in a 45-mile traffic backup on the Massachusetts Turnpike that stretched from Charlton to West Newton on Wednesday.

By 5 p.m., the massive backups eased, but some delays persisted near the larger interchanges of interstates 495, 95, 290 and 84, state police said.

The massive backup came despite the state's attempts to make the trip smoother this year.

It won't be long before many Massachusetts highways look like parking lots, according to local travel experts who said they expect about 10 percent more motorists to hit the roads in New England during the Thanksgiving holiday this year, and that means a lot more company on highways.

Wednesday will be the worst day on the roads with the most people trying to get out of town.

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Rush hour began at around 1 p.m. and it was expected to be bumper to bumper until about 7 p.m., so the best advice is to travel early or wait until later.

This holiday is the first big test for the state's new transportation department and officials are trying not to have a repeat of past holiday disasters where motorists were backed up for hours waiting to get through undermanned toll booths at key highway intersections.

"We've called in even seasonal helped to make sure that we have (booths) fully staffed and there will be management personnel at each interchange to be able to give them some flexibility to move from electronic toll collection to cash toll collection," said Frank Tramontozzi of the state Department of Transportation

The Massachusetts Turnpike usually gets the brunt of the traffic jams, with the longest backups at the Interstate 495 tolls and the toll plaza at Interstate 84 near the Connecticut border.

The state is also offering some high-tech help this year to help drivers avoid the worst of it. MassDOT has put all 90 of its Traffic Cameras online in real time.