A huge volume of additional cars will hit Britain’s roads over the coming bank holiday, with more than 16 million drivers across the country set to travel during the long weekend.
According to an analysis by the RAC and data company Inrix, traffic levels will peak on Saturday, with 3.3 million journeys expected to be made. However, around 5.6 million people are still undecided when they will travel.
Inrix data suggests drivers should avoid setting off between 1pm and 7pm on Thursday, 11am and 6pm on Friday, 9am and 2pm on Saturday, and 10am and 3pm on both the Sunday and Monday. Throughout the weekend, the best times to travel will be before 9am and after 5pm.
Friday 3 May is likely to be the worst day for hold-ups, with delays on major routes and motorways meaning journeys are expected to take 13 percent longer than usual.
Journey times to double
To make matters worse, Inrix estimates major routes across the south and south west of England are likely to take an average of 50 percent longer than usual to drive on Friday afternoon, while on bank holiday Monday itself parts of the north west, East Anglia and the south west will be hardest hit by returning traffic.
Jams are predicted on the M55 eastbound between Blackpool and Preston from 11am, Cornwall to Exeter eastbound on the A30 and A38 from 11.30am, and Norwich to Thetford on the A11 southbound from 12.15pm.
“Delays will likely peak on Friday afternoon with some areas seeing usual travel times double as holiday drivers vie for space on the roads with commuters,” said Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at Inrix.
Rail strikes to increase car traffic?
With the latest round of rail strikes also set to take place next week, as Aslef’s dispute with the government rumbles on, the RAC has warned that traffic levels could be higher than normal in the following days, too.
“Industrial action can throw best-laid travel plans into chaos and many commuters who normally rely on the trains instead take to the roads, so our advice is to avoid driving at peak times of day if you can,” said RAC spokesperson Alice Simpson.
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