HE clears 300 miles of roadworks for Easter weekend

Highways England is lifting more than 300 miles of roadworks for the Easter getaway, with as many as 20 million cars expected to hit the roads.

Highways England said almost 98% of motorways and strategic A roads will be roadworks-free.  Chief executive Jim O’Sullivan said, "I want all drivers to arrive at their destinations safely. We are removing almost all of our roadworks across the country to make people’s journeys easier for people this Easter"

Transport analytics company INRIX said this year’s Easter period will see more than 20 million cars on the UK’s roads, with traffic forecasts for Thursday and Monday showing a 20% increase.

Thursday will be the busiest getaway day, with peaks set to reach 28.4% above average traffic levels at 5pm, up 30% on last year, as drivers set off early for the long weekend.

Inrix said the worst affected roads on Thursday will be the major motorways, with some journeys taking as much as three times longer than an average Thursday evening.