Belgian motorists face holiday gridlock

23 July 2004

BRUSSELS – Belgian holidaymakers heading south for the sun are being warned to expect gridlock on many of Europe’s motorways this weekend.

Motorists have been advised not to begin their journey on Friday evening or Saturday when risk of bottlenecks is the highest.

Traffic organisations have issued a orange/red warning for Friday and a red alert for Saturday.

Sunday is considered the best time to take to the roads and remains on green alert.

In Belgium, the heaviest traffic has been predicted for Saturday morning and Sunday evening on the E40 towards the coast and the E411 towards Luxembourg.

In France, Friday is classed orange with traffic becoming the densest between midday and 8 p.m.

There will be a red alert on Saturday and tailbacks are expected on the A7 to Lyon, the A9 to Narbonne-Le Perthus and the A61 to Toulouse-Narbonne.

Journeys to Germany, Switzerland and Austria will also be very difficult from Friday afternoon, especially between the hours of 5 p.m. 7 p.m.

Saturday has also been classed as red alert day in this part of Europe, with dense traffic and queues between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Subject: Belgian news