Plan your trip to avoid holiday traffic delays
Motorists taking advantage of the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II National Day of Mourning public holiday and heading on their holidays early are urged to plan ahead and allow extra travel time with heavy traffic expected in key corridors.
Transport for NSW Executive Director Customer Management, Roger Weeks, said taking a couple of minutes to plan your trip in advance, and stagger departures outside of peak times will help avoid potentially lengthy delays caused by major events and holiday traffic.
“It’s great to see people travelling around NSW this holiday break, but with this, we expect to see congestion on some of our major routes, and the traffic is likely to build earlier than usual due to Thursday being a public holiday.” Mr Weeks said.
“Travellers are also reminded that double demerits will be in force from Wednesday this week.
“Pinch points north of Sydney include the M1 Pacific Motorway at Raymond Terrace, Nelson Bay Road, and further north along the Pacific Motorway at Coffs Harbour, crossing the border into Queensland.
“As holiday makers head to the South Coast, we’re predicting heavy traffic on the Princes Highway around Wollongong, Nowra, Ulladulla and Batemans Bay, and eastbound along the Kings Highway at Braidwood.
“Delays are also expected on other major routes out of Sydney including the Great Western Highway at Blackheath, and Hume Highway at Pheasants Nest.
“Traffic around Sydney Airport, especially the domestic terminal expected to be very heavy. There are traffic changes in place on several roads approaching the airport due to construction on the Sydney Gateway, and extra travel time should be factored into these journeys.”
Road closures will be in place on Lawrence Hargrave Drive between Helensburgh and Bulli Saturday and Sunday for the Elite Women’s and Men’s road races as part of the UCI Road Cycling World Championships.
Customers wanting to access the Royal National Park at Stanwell Tops are advised to use the northern access points at Loftus and Waterfall.
Motorists should start planning their journeys now in case they need to make other arrangements, which may involve selecting an alternative route or transport mode.
Drivers are also reminded to take extra care on the roads from this Wednesday, with double demerits coming into effect ahead of Thursday’s public holiday, the National Day of Mourning for Her Majesty the Queen and school holidays commencing on Saturday.
Double demerits will apply from 12:00am on Wednesday 21 September 2022 until 11:59pm on Sunday 25 September 2022. Double demerits will be in place for all speeding, seatbelt, mobile phone and motorcycle helmet offences.
Find the latest road updates at Live Traffic or download the Live Traffic NSW App, and for more specific delay data visit our online journey planning tool at myjourneynsw.info.