Drivers can expect another weekend of heavy traffic in Belgium and beyond this weekend.
The travel assistance organisation Touring has warned of heavy congestion on roads coming in and out of Belgium and has published a guide about how best to manage the chaos.
On Friday afternoon, Friday evening and Saturday morning, traffic on the E40 between Brussels and the coast will be very heavy. The same goes for the E411 Brussels-Luxembourg.
The route back into Brussels will be the most congested on Sunday evening, mainly on the E40 Ostend-Brussels and the E411 Luxembourg-Brussels.
Touring urges drivers to consider planning their journeys on Thursdays and Mondays to skip the crowds.
Heavy traffic in and out of France
Credit: Belga
For those heading into France, Touring has listed several rush hour black spots:
On Friday:
- Île-de-France region (in and around Paris) from 12:00 to 20:00
- A10 between Orléans and Tours from 14:00 to 18:00
- A10 between Tours and Poitiers from 16:00 to 19:00
- A6 between Beaune and Lyon from 16:00 to 19:00
- A7 between Lyon and Marseille from 14:00 to 20:00
- A9 between Orange and Montpellier from 16:00 to 19:00
- N205 (towards Italy via the Mont Blanc tunnel) between 10:00 and 23:00
On Saturday:
- Île-de-France region (in and around Paris) between 08:00 and 18:00
- A10 between Orléans and Tours from 07:00 to 12:00 and between Poitiers and Bordeaux from 09:00 to 15:00
- Roads around the Bordeaux metropolitan area from 08:00 to 16:00
- A7 between Lyon and Marseille from 09:00 to 17:00
- A9 between Orange and Montpellier from 07:00 to 17:00 and between Montpellier and Narbonne from 08:00 to 15:00
- A61 between Toulouse and Narbonne from 09:00 to 17:00
- N205 (towards Italy via the Mont Blanc tunnel) between 05:00 to 18:00 (waiting time of more than 30 minutes) and between 10:00 and 13:00 (waiting time of more than one hour).
Traffic near Anderlecht, Brussels. Credit: Belga / Thierry Roge
On Sunday, traffic will be heavy only in the Auvergne, Rhône-Alpes and south-western regions of France. No problems are expected in the rest of France.
For the drive back into Belgium, congestion will be worst on Friday and Saturday in the 'Mediterranean arc' (Southern France) while western and northern regions will experience delays from around 10:00, with traffic returning to normal in the late afternoon.
From Sunday morning until around 15:00, traffic will still be fairly heavy in the Mediterranean arc and in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Belgium's black spots
Touring highlights year-round "black spots" in Belgium to steer clear of where possible:
- the R0, ring road around Brussels
- the R1, ring road around Antwerp
- the E40 Brussels–Ostend, especially between Wetteren–Ghent–Aalter
- the A11/N49 Antwerp-Knokke
- the N8 Ypres–Furnes
- the E411 Brussels - Ardennes - Luxembourg
The organisation has also put together a list of year-round points to avoid – and alternative routes to take – in other European countries. Consult the list here.
