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Holiday Travel: Where Traffic Jams Are Expected This Weekend

Holiday Travel: Where Traffic Jams Are Expected This Weekend
As the vacation season comes to an end, traffic jams are expected on many highways this weekend. (File photo) / Photo: Ulrich Perrey/dpa
From: DieSachsen News
Many vacationers are heading back home, while others are just starting their vacations. The state’s highways are likely to be crowded this weekend. One day in particular could be a real test of patience.

As summer vacation comes to an end in several federal states, drivers should expect crowded highways and traffic jams this weekend. In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, summer vacation ends on Friday; in Schleswig-Holstein, it ends on Saturday. The ADAC expects the worst traffic jams during the return trip to occur on Sunday afternoon and evening.

Traffic is likely to be particularly heavy on routes heading north from the south, as well as from the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts. The ADAC anticipates heavy travel traffic heading south and toward the coasts as early as Friday afternoon and evening. The risk of traffic jams is also high on Saturday. In Bremen and Lower Saxony, the summer break has already ended as of Wednesday.

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Many major highways affected

According to the ADAC, routes particularly prone to traffic jams include the A1 between Hamburg and Cologne, the A2 via Hanover and Magdeburg, the A3 between Oberhausen and Passau, and the A7 from Flensburg to Füssen. Travelers should also expect delays on the A4 through Dresden, the A8 between Karlsruhe and Salzburg, the A9 between Berlin and Munich, and the Berlin Ring.

The Assumption of Mary holiday on Saturday and the Italian Ferragosto will bring additional traffic. Traffic jams are also expected on major routes in Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.

Additional trucks could cause more traffic jams

Trucks could add to the congestion. Due to low water levels, 15 federal states have relaxed the driving ban on Sundays and holidays. In most states, the exemptions will initially apply through the end of August; in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, they will apply through the end of September. Saxony also announced on Wednesday a relaxation of the ban through August 31. Saxony-Anhalt is thus the only federal state to have maintained the regular ban so far.

According to the ADAC, it is not yet possible to estimate how many additional shipments this will bring onto the roads. However, the automobile club anticipates an increased risk of traffic jams, especially at bottlenecks. It does not expect “traffic chaos,” as the exemptions do not apply uniformly across Germany and are in some cases limited to shipments related to low water levels.

The ADAC Schleswig-Holstein nevertheless warns of additional traffic congestion during the wave of return travel. “From a traffic perspective, the exemption comes at a particularly inopportune time: the major wave of return traffic is happening right now,” said spokesperson Rainer Pregla. Especially on routes that are already heavily congested, such as the A7, additional trucks could further exacerbate the traffic situation.

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