RAC warns of busiest Easter on UK roads in at least eight years

theguardian.com:

This weekend’s Easter getaway could be the busiest on the UK’s roads in at least eight years as engineering works look set to disrupt rail travel, the RAC has said.

An estimated 21.5 million leisure trips will be made by car between Good Friday and Easter Monday, the motoring organisation predicts. That is the most since the organisation began tracking motorists’ Easter plans in 2014.

The busiest single day on the roads over the bank holiday weekend is expected to be Good Friday.

The west coast railway line will be shut throughout the Easter weekend between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central due to upgrades of the existing line and HS2 work, posing a headache for Liverpool and Manchester City fans travelling down for the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday.

Customers planning journeys between Euston and Scotland are advised to travel either side of the long weekend.

On the roads, the traffic information provider Inrix highlighted several likely congestion hotspots. These include:

The M6 north between junction 26 (Orrell interchange, Greater Manchester) and junction 36 (the Lake District).

The M25 clockwise from junction 8 (Reigate Hill interchange, Surrey) to junction 16 (Denham interchange, Buckinghamshire).

The A303 near Stonehenge, Wiltshire.

Drivers wanting to avoid as much congestion as possible are urged to set off before 9am or delay their journeys until after 7.30pm.

The RAC traffic spokesperson Rod Dennis said: “After two years of relatively quiet Easter bank holidays on the roads, our research suggests a return to traffic levels that are much more typical of this time of year. It’s very possible this weekend could turn out to be one of the busiest for leisure journeys for many years.

“Add in the impact of