It was hard to miss the ferry traffic backup over the holiday weekend — it nearly reached D Avenue on Thursday.

Washington State Ferries officials say the combination of optimal summer weather and a long Fourth of July weekend made the San Juan Islands a popular destination.

“That definitely was a big part of it,” said Steve Rodgers, WSF director of operations. “It was probably the best Fourth of July in regards to weather we’ve had.”

Weekend ferries to the San Juan Islands are already operating at or above capacity during the summer, Rodgers said.

Mayor Dean Maxwell said the problem was the shortage of ferries caused by the retirement of four Steel Electric ferries a few years ago. In the past the state brought extra boats to the San Juans for big weekends.

“They usually put on more runs,” he said at Monday’s City Council meeting. “The lack of additional ferry service backed the traffic up into town.”

The mayor said the city’s planning could have been better, but there was no warning this could happen.

“I think everyone was caught by surprise,” he said. “I was not aware of the problem until Thursday afternoon when everyone showed up.”

He said the city will work with the state to try to prevent it from occurring again.

“It was the absolutely perfect storm — perfect weather, a four-day weekend,” said Anacortes Police Chief Bonnie Bowers. “It’s difficult for APD because we cannot cue people up for a ferry line ... All we can do is hope our local traffic can divert on D Avenue or Copper Pond.”

Anacortes City Council member Bill Turner who lives on the West End past the ferry turnoff, said he was stuck in traffic twice on Friday.

“It did affect me. It was very surprising,” Turner said. “I’ve never experienced that sort of back up.”

By using the back roads starting at Anacopper Road, Turner was able to avoid the worse of it as did many locals who know their way around.

“I really doubt we have a back up like that again,” Turner said.

An extra ferry sailing was added to the Thursday afternoon schedule to Friday Harbor and Lopez Island, where many people were headed for the annual fireworks display.

However, “it didn’t seem to put a dent in it,” Rodgers said.

After the last ferry sailed out of Anacortes Thursday, passengers who were still waiting to get on spent the night on the docks.

Because of limits on how many hours ferry crews can work in a 24-hour period, WSF was not able to accommodate everyone, Rodgers said.

“We can’t work them all night and into the next day,” he said.

WSF did offer free terminal parking over the weekend to encourage walk-on passengers, which added to the upper parking lot filling up. Other ferry customers resorted to parking on side streets near the terminal.

Washington State Patrol had two bike units at the terminal over the long weekend.

“They’re doing routine security for the ferry, making sure traffic isn’t getting backed up onto the road,” said Trooper Keith Leary.

With the limited space, he said it can be tough to get that many people to fit at the terminal.

Rodgers did not have information on how many, if anyone, gave up and pulled out of the ferry line, but if they did there were plenty of others to take their place, he said.

“We were incredibly busy,” said Madonna Martin, barista at the Cheesecake Cafe in the Anacortes Ferry Terminal.

The high numbers began Thursday and continued through Saturday, with business slowing on Sunday, Martin said. When asked the mood of her customers, she said the locals were fine.

“People who weren’t from the area were a bit more challenging,” she said.

Despite the long lines, Bowers said there were no reported road-rage incidents.

“That’s what really worries me. When people are in line for that long you can get some tempers,” she said.

Elsewhere in the city, the long holiday weekend kept the department busy.

Police answered nearly 30 fireworks calls on July 3 and 4 but didn’t issue any citations, said Anacortes Police Capt. John Small.

When people were asked to stop shooting off fireworks they did, he said. Personal possession and discharge of fireworks are illegal in the city limits.

“The big fireworks went off pretty uneventful,” he said. “All in all it was a good Fourth of July.”

The Anacortes Fire Department reported no major incidents.

“We had a lot of minor stuff through the day, which kept the crews on the go,” said Assistant Chief Dan Harju. “Other than that we surprisingly didn’t have any serious fireworks-related calls.”

What was reported as a house fire turned out to be a misfired firework in the 1200 block of 27th Court Saturday. A bottle rocket got caught in the garage door of a neighboring house, Harju said. Once it stopped burning the residents pulled it out. He said there was no damage.

They were also called to assist Summit Park at some grass and driftwood fires near the casino Sunday.