Thousand miles of roadworks to be lifted ahead of Easter getaway as RAC warns drivers face a 'hat-trick of hold-ups' this weekend
More than a thousand miles of roadworks are to be lifted by 6am tomorrow to help ease the Easter getaway.
National Highways will remove blockages from 1,127 miles of motorways and A roads in England, leaving 97.5 per cent of its network free of traffic cones.
But while they will not be reinstated until after Easter Monday, motorists are still being advised to prepare for congestion around town and city centres and retail parks.
Major routes such as the M6 at Birmingham, the approaches to Blackpool, the south and western section of the M25 between the M23 and M40, the M5 at Bristol and the A303 in Wiltshire are also expected to be extremely busy.
The AA estimates that 19.1million people will drive on Good Friday, with 18.5million hitting the road on Saturday and 18.2million on each of Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.
The RAC warned that drivers face a 'hat-trick of hold-ups' tomorrow, Good Friday and Saturday as the bank holiday weekend coincides with the end of the Easter break for many schools.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said yesterday she is 'cracking down on disruptive streetworks to make journeys to see loved ones as smooth as possible'.
More than a thousand miles of roadworks are to be lifted by 6am tomorrow
But motorists are still being advised to prepare for congestion around town and city centres and retail parks
Earlier this year, the Department for Transport announced it will double the level of fines for disruptive streetworks by utility companies which overrun.
It will also require at least 50 per cent of revenue raised from lane rental charges to be spent on highway maintenance.
Andrew Butterfield, of National Highways, said he expects the roads to be busy over Easter, adding: 'That's why we are making journeys easier by removing a huge number of roadworks.'
