480 kilometers: Corpus Christi causes mega-traffic jams on German motorways
The afternoon before Corpus Christi weekend is one of the most congested days of the year. This year, too, traffic came to a standstill in many places.
Drivers were asked to be patient at the start of the long Corpus Christi weekend. Starting in the afternoon, traffic was backed up on many highways, especially along the Rhine and in the Ruhr region, according to a spokesperson for the ADAC North Rhine. With a total length of 480 kilometers of traffic jams on the highways, the situation reached a peak around 4:30 p.m.
For example, road users on the A40 motorway toward the Netherlands and on the A4 toward Cologne had to endure waits of around an hour. According to the ADAC, there were also traffic jams stretching more than 20 kilometers and slow traffic at times on stretches of the A61, A1, and A3. The situation should ease again by the evening, it said.
The ADAC had already warned of unusually heavy traffic in its forecast. Last year, the start of the Corpus Christi weekend was one of the three most congested days of the year, said Roman Suthold, head of the Traffic and Environment Department at ADAC North Rhine.
"It will be particularly bad on Wednesday afternoon between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Commuters and short-term vacationers will converge here," the forecast says. Suthold advises: "Those who can should not leave until the evening or Thursday morning."
For families in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Corpus Christi weekend is the last chance for a short break before the summer holidays. Although the bridge day on Friday is not a statewide holiday for students in North Rhine-Westphalia, many schools have scheduled one of their flexible holiday days for it.
Starting Thursday, however, the ADAC expects less traffic. However, there are likely to be problems on the A46 between Wuppertal and Düsseldorf. The stretch between Wuppertal-Cronenberg and Haan-Ost will be completely closed in both directions from Wednesday evening (8:00 p.m.) to Monday morning (5:00 a.m.), according to the Autobahn Authority. During this time, work will be carried out on guardrails and a bridge. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.
Work will be carried out on a bridge on Autobahn 2 from Friday evening (9 p.m.) to Sunday morning (9 a.m.) - the section between Herten and the Recklinghausen junction will be completely closed for this purpose.
Otherwise, the risk of traffic jams is particularly high, especially in front of construction sites in North Rhine-Westphalia. "Especially in the Oberhausen/Duisburg area (Kaiserberg junction) and on the entire Cologne ring road, there is a risk of traffic jams and slow-moving traffic," writes the ADAC.
Return travel on Sunday should run without too many problems. There will be no commuters on the roads then, and passenger traffic will be more evenly distributed.
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