‘Evening rush hour’ for extended weekend already in full swing: 180 kilometers of traffic jam in Flanders

It is already extremely busy on the Flemish motorways on Wednesday afternoon. Around 2.25 pm there is a 180 km traffic jam, which is the case every year for the extended Ascension weekend. The Flemish Traffic Center asks people who want to leave to first check carefully how traffic is progressing on their route.

It is an annual phenomenon: the evening rush hour starts around noon the day before the extended Ascension weekend. That is also the case this year. “The trend is already clear, but it will only get worse as the day progresses,” says Peter Bruyninckx of the Flemish Traffic Center. “The traffic jams are due to large crowds, no incidents have been reported so far. There have been traffic jams all morning, especially in the Antwerp region.”

Leonard Tunnel

Bruyninckx advises people to check the traffic situation on their route via the Flemish Traffic Center website before their departure and, if necessary, postpone their departure or choose a different route. “We notice that there are a lot of foreign license plates on our roads, so everyone wants to go to our coast for the nice weather this weekend.

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He also warns of major disruption to be expected on Wednesday evening due to the closure of the Leonard Tunnel, south of Brussels. “The Leonard Tunnel will be completely closed in both directions from 8:30 PM until 5:30 AM on Monday morning,” he says. “This will have enormous consequences for the traffic situation west of Brussels. We expect a major traffic jam there, especially on Sunday evening, when the spring holidays in French-speaking education will be over and a large number of drivers will want to drive towards Wallonia.”