The Autobahn GmbH of the federal government also expects traffic jams in Saxony around Ascension Day and Whitsun. The roadworks on freeways 4 (Görlitz-Eisenach) and 72 (Leipzig via Chemnitz to Hof) in particular are considered a bottleneck. "Travelers should be prepared for heavy traffic and congestion, especially on the routes to the regional recreation areas," the company said.
Commuter traffic overlaps travel traffic
The busiest day on the long Ascension weekend is expected to be Wednesday. This is because commuter traffic will overlap with the start of travel traffic in the afternoon. A slight increase in traffic is then expected on the public holiday itself and on Saturday, while Friday is likely to be rather quiet. Finally, heavy return traffic is expected on Sunday.
At Whitsun, Autobahn GmbH is expecting the first major load test on Friday afternoon (22 May) - when the rush hour traffic meets the wave of travel that is about to begin. The volume of traffic is also expected to remain high on the following day. Whitsunday is likely to be comparatively quiet, while the return traffic will start to roll again on Whit Monday.