RAC Expects Busiest Easter Bank Holiday on the Roads in Three Years
If you’re planning to ride your motorcycle from Thursday onwards, plan your route and times carefully
The RAC is expecting over 19 million journeys over the course of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, so if you’re planning to get out on two wheels, plan your route and times wisely.
Traffic and delays are likely to start from Thursday and last well into the weekend as the RAC’s latest findings suggests 2.7m trips are being planned by drivers every day from Thursday to Saturday, which means those numbers will likely be significantly more when bikers are factored in.
The number of trips planned from Thursday to Saturday is slightly more than Easter Sunday, which is predicted to see around 2.5m drivers on the roads, which again will be a higher number when factoring in motorcyclists, before it rises back up to 2.7m on bank holiday Monday.
The RAC is expecting a further 6.2m journeys at some point over the Easter bank holiday weekend, however, drivers planning these trips are still unsure exactly when they’ll travel – with the notorious British weather likely to be a big factor. The weather is expected to be cooler than last week, but there will be plenty of riders taking advantage, so if you’re one of them, carefully planning your journey could save a lot of time.
Traffic data company, INRIX, expects Thursday 17 to be the worst day for traffic as cues are likely to increase by nearly a third (30 per cent) above the usual number. As a result, the INRIX is predicting delays of more than an hour on the 35-mile anti-clockwise stretch of the M25 between J7 for Gatwick Airport and J16 for the M40 to the West Midlands, at around 11:45am.
On Good Friday, the busiest times are expected between 11am to 1pm, meaning riders should plan to start their trips as early as possible in the morning or delay them until later in the afternoon.
Two popular routes heading to the West Country include the A303 westbound to Stonehenge and the M5 between J15 at the RAC tower north of Bristol and J23 for Bridgwater. These roads might be affected by some of the longest traffic jams, with journey times predicted to be around 43 minutes and 1h 20 minutes long.
RAC breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson said: “Although journey numbers are still very high, we’re anticipating more day trips and weekend breaks than people heading off on one and two-week stints, reflected by INRIX’s predictions that the worst delays will be along routes from Gatwick to the rest of the country. This could lead to a ‘hat-trick of hold-ups’ on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as drivers visit family and friends.
“But while getaway journeys may be shorter in length, we’re still expecting to see extremely high levels of traffic from Thursday onwards, with the greatest number of Easter getaway trips planned for three years. Drivers shouldn’t expect to escape the queues if they don’t plan the best time to set off. It’s always best to travel as early as possible in the morning or later in the day when most of the traffic has eased, especially if headed to popular holiday destinations such as the West Country, Scotland or Wales.
“Despite the predicted jams and weather set to be cooler than it was for many of us last week – the one silver lining for anyone getting away could be lower fuel prices. All the talk of trade tariffs has pushed oil prices down, which should lead to lower petrol and diesel prices at the pumps if retailers pass the savings on.”
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
