Drivers warned journeys could take three times longer over Easter

Preparing for a relaxing weekend away over the Easter bank holidays?

Ha. We can only hope that you don’t have to drive anywhere, because the roads are not going to be pleasant.

Obviously, heavy traffic on a bank holiday is not the most surprising news – but you might want to take a look at the roads which will be the worst affected, and plan accordingly.

When should I drive?

Drivers have been warned that journeys could take three times longer than usual due to the volume of people trying to get home for the holidays.

The worst time you could possibly pick is Friday afternoon. A total of 4.4 million journeys will cause major routes to be clogged between 11am and 4.30pm.

To get a reprieve from the traffic, set off early in the morning on Saturday.

Should I get the train instead?

You could try, but rail passengers also face disruption over the bank holiday weekend as Network Rail carries out engineering work.

London Euston – the fifth busiest station in the UK – will be closed between Good Friday and Easter Monday, affecting West Coast services.
This is due to preparation work for HS2 and creating space on the concourse.

There will also be no trains at London Fenchurch Street, an amended service between Preston and Glasgow Central, and some lines through Wimbledon will be closed.

Highways England said it will remove more than 450 miles of roadworks in time for the Easter bank holiday, meaning 99 per cent of motorways and major A-roads in England will be clear of cones.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: ‘This week we’re expecting a significant second wave of Easter getaway traffic, following that which we saw at the start of April when schools broke up.

‘This will mean the coming week and the bank holiday will likely be characterised by lengthy queues in some spots.

‘Traffic jams are frustrating at the best of times and while we can predict where some of these will crop up, it only takes a single bump or breakdown for huge tailbacks to form.’

Mr Dennis urged motorists to carry out essential maintenance checks before embarking on journeys, such as tyre pressure and oil level.

Dan Croft, incident group operations manager at traffic data firm Inrix, said: ‘During peak hours over Easter, journeys could take UK drivers three times longer than usual.’