Major delays on Belgian roads expected over Easter weekend

The roads in Belgium will particularly busy over the Easter weekend as many holidaymakers return home at the end of the school holidays, RTBF reports.

According to mobility organisation Touring, the Easter weekend will be the most difficult of all the spring school holidays in terms of road traffic, and many routes will experience delays.

Traffic may be particularly busy on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning for departures. Touring advises people to leave early on Friday morning or later in the evening, and on Saturday from noon. Traffic is expected to be heavier on Easter Monday in the late afternoon and evening.

Touring has identified a number of areas where traffic problems may be experienced:

• on the A54 Between Gosselies and Nivelles after the roadworks
• on the Brussels ring following the construction sites between Woluwe Saint-Etienne and Zaventem in both directions
• on the E40 at Bertem: one lane is closed in both directions for 4 km
• on the E25 towards Liège-centre following the construction sites coming from Visé and coming from Chaudfontaine
• on the E42 from Hautrage to Peruwelz towards Tournai
• on the E313 following the construction site in Wommelgem towards Antwerp

It should be noted that the coastal motorway and the E411 Brussels-Luxembourg do not have any work in progress for the moment, which should make travel on these routes easier.

Heavy traffic likely in France

In France, the Easter holidays are yet to begin in some regions and have only just started in others. Therefore, anyone travelling to or from France should be aware that almost all the country's major connecting routes will be affected in the coming days and traffic will be heavy in all regions.

Touring expects many traffic jams on the routes out of major cities on Friday, 15 April. Traffic will be heavy on the A7 and A9 motorways heading south and on the A13 towards Normandy. In Île-de-France, difficulties could appear as early as late morning on the A6b motorways and ring roads (BP and A86) that join the A6 and A10 motorways. Traffic will remain very dense in the direction of departures until mid-evening.

On Saturday, 16 April, people are expected to start leaving mainly in the morning and until the end of the afternoon. The traffic jams will be linked to departures and concentrated on the main routes to Normandy and Brittany (A13, A11, N12, N157) and to the Mediterranean (A7, A8, A9, A61). In Île-de-France, traffic will be very dense from the beginning of the morning towards the toll gates of the A10 and A6 motorways. Traffic difficulties are also expected on the A13 motorway from mid-morning.

On Easter Monday, 18 April, travel disruptions are expected to begin at the end of the morning as close as possible to the coastal areas of the country and will gradually reach the major towns and cities. The disruptions should ease around 20:00 on the outskirts of these locations. In Île-de-France, traffic difficulties are expected throughout the afternoon until late in the evening on the A10, A6 and A13 motorways.