Motorists trying to avoid delays when travelling today should leave early, as AA Roadwatch predicts traffic chaos with up to 200,000 motorists on the roads at the end of the busiest bank holiday weekend of the year.
Ms Morag Maxwell of AA Roadwatch advises motorists to leave as early as 9 a.m. if they can, as traffic starts building up from lunchtime. She pointed to traffic congestion at noon yesterday at Enfield, Co Kildare, as football supporters travelled to Croke Park for the 4.20 p.m. Meath/Westmeath football quarter-final match.
"Lunchtime is the start of the traffic build-up and people can expect delays from then on the main routes," she said. In recent years, traffic jams have been starting earlier with the majority of people getting on the road between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. compared to later starts at around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. previously.
The Cork-Dublin and Galway-Dublin routes are expected to be busiest with delays at Kildare on the N7 and Enfield on the N4. Motorists can expect delays of at least 40 minutes on the Cork-Dublin route at Kildare town and an hour at Enfield on the Dublin-Galway route, with tailbacks of up to six miles. Fermoy, Co Cork, is also expected to be busy. Tailbacks are also expected in Nenagh and Roscrea, Co Tipperary.
The National Safety Council has appealed to motorists to take extra care because of the increased volumes of traffic. The council urges motorists and passengers to wear seat-belts at all times, even for short journeys. Children should be properly restrained in their seats, and frequent breaks are advised on longer journeys, with shared driving where possible.
Apart from motorists, 100,000 people have been travelling on expressway and provincial bus services, according to Bus Eireann. Services today will generally operate like Sundays, but with a few changes and extra services for people returning to main towns and cities.
Normal weekday services will operate on seven routes including Dublin/Belfast; Cork/Galway via west Clare; Tralee/Sneem; Tralee/Waterville; Tralee/Ring of Kerry; and Killarney to Castle townbere. The Bus Eireann travel information line, (01) 836 6111, is operational from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today.
More than 200,000 people have used rail services this weekend. Today, the DART will operate a Sunday service with minor changes. A Sunday service will also operate on the Dublin/Drogheda route. There will, however, be no suburban trains today on the Dublin/Arklow, Dublin/ Kildare or Dublin/Maynooth services.
Some 363,000 passengers travelled through the State's three main airports - Dublin, Cork and Shannon - over the weekend, a 4 per cent increase over the same bank holiday last year. A total of 276,000 passengers used Dublin Airport, with more than 370 holiday charter flights in operation. Some 29,000 passengers travelled through Cork Airport and 58,000 passed through Shannon. Aer Rianta has called on passengers to allow extra time to get to the airport today because of the traffic.
