Rain making Memorial Day travel messy

Sunday’s rain kept a damper to holiday weekend plans for some in the Tri-State area, during a time often called the unofficial start of summer.

At the George Washington Bridge Sunday, a number of cars could be seen heading back into the city, perhaps earlier than they had planned. They faced dreary, foggy conditions along with the rain. The inbound side moved slowly in the afternoon.

Over on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, it was a similar experience, with traffic inching along. The Cross Bronx Expressway nearby also had heavy traffic.

The difficulty extended to major highways Sunday. In New Jersey, a crash on Interstate 80 near Elmwood Park brought emergency vehicles and blocked the eastbound lanes.

On Long Island, an early morning crash on the Meadowbrook State Parkway shortly before 3:00 snarled traffic in Hempstead. State police investigators determined that a speeding Toyota Camry slammed into a Honda Pilot. One passenger of the Pilot was ejected from the SUV and taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

All of this complicating an already dreary Memorial Day weekend.