More than 14m leisure journeys are expected to be made by car this Easter weekend when the bank holiday collides with most UK schools breaking up, according to a new study of drivers’ getaway plans from INRIX and the RAC.
Data indicates Good Friday could spell some of the worst delays for drivers as an estimated 2.6m getaway trips by car are due to be made on that day alone. This is 600,0000 more than the 2m journeys planned for both Thursday 28 March – the day many schools break up – and Easter Monday, and is up on volumes expected over Easter Saturday and Sunday with 2.3m separate trips each.
An additional one-in-10 drivers (10%) are planning a trip over the long Easter weekend but are undecided exactly when they’ll hit the road, leading to an estimated 3.3m more trips staggered over these dates.
INRIX predicts that Thursday traffic will be heaviest between 2pm and 7pm as getaway traffic combines with people making regular commuting trips. The busiest route is expected to be the M25 in both directions between the M23 for Gatwick and the M1 in Hertfordshire from 4pm, with journeys on this stretch taking over two hours – more than double the usual time.
Meanwhile, on Good Friday, INRIX predicts that the engthiest delays are expected between 11am and 3pm meaning drivers are advised to start their trips as early as possible in the morning or delay them until later the afternoon. Two popular routes for holidaymakers – the M5 southbound between Bristol and Taunton and M3 between the M25 and the south coast – are predicted to be affected by some of the longest jams, with journey times extending to one hour 48 minutes and two hours 18 minutes respectively – twice as long as usual.
For those spending the first full week of the Easter holidays away from home, the busiest route to return on will be the M5 northbound between Taunton and Bristol on Friday 5th April at 3pm, where it will take an estimated two and a half hours to travel.
