It is already extremely busy on the Flemish motorways on Wednesday afternoon. Around 3 p.m. there is a 190 kilometer 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. This is also the case this year, with around 190 kilometers of traffic jam around 3 p.m. “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.”
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.”
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.”
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Annoyance
Towards Antwerp you lose 45 minutes on the E313 from Herentals-Industrie to Antwerp-Oost. On the E17 you lose another half hour from Haasdonk to Zwijndrecht. You also lose half an hour on the E34 from Melsele to Sint-Anna-Linkeroever. On the Antwerp Ring you lose half an hour towards Ghent from Antwerp North to Antwerp Center. Towards the Netherlands you lose half an hour from the Kennedy tunnel to Deurne.
Towards Brussels you lose 20 minutes on the E40 from Bertem to Sint-Stevens-Woluwe. On the Brussels Ring you will be stuck in a traffic jam on the outer ring between Wezembeek-Oppem and Diegem for 45 minutes. On the inner ring it is half an hour from Wezembeek-Oppem to Leonard.
Finally, you lose on the Ring around Ghent 20 minutes from Ghent Seaport to Zelzate East.
Never before have there been so many traffic jams as in 2023: “Highways are becoming oversaturated” (+)
ON MAP. Traffic jams reach record levels, and planned works do not promise any improvement: discover the work in your region here (+)
Due to numerous traffic jams, the E313 seems to many people to be a more dangerous highway than others. Is that idea correct? (+)
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Tags: Evening rush hour long weekend full swing kilometers traffic jams Flemish highways Region
