“Black Saturday” traffic peak reached at about noon

Traffic reached its peak on the Black Saturday at around noon, and the crowds on European roadways decreased in the hours since. At about 12 p.m., Dutch travel association ANWB counted 628 kilometers of traffic jams in France, but it did not get out of hand, a spokesperson said. The roads were clear later in the afternoon.

The designation Black Saturday, or Zwarte Zaterdag, is given on those days when road travel is expected to be at its heaviest. There was more traffic on the roads exactly one year ago than on this first Black Saturday of the summer, with school holidays in the central portion of the Netherlands having just begun.

"I think the French expected more crowds, but you will still get stuck on many roads for a few hours," said the ANWB. So drivers are still "on the road for three hours longer" when traveling from Lyon to Spain.

Holiday traffic can also cause delays in other countries, such as the Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland. There, the crowds caused a 45-minute delay in both directions. "On other days there is sometimes a two-hour traffic jam. That's not an issue now." It was also busy on the roads in the south of Germany. In the Netherlands, the traffic service observed congestion on the A12 from Germany, but this did not lead to delays.

France has designated five Black Saturdays for this summer, compared to two or three in other years. Due to the coronavirus restrictions having been lifted, combined with people who are reluctant to fly, it is expected that more people will go on holiday by car, the ANWB explained. The blackest Saturdays are July 30 and August 6. Then, "a very large part of Europe will go on holiday, and people will also return, which will cause a huge delay," said the ANWB spokesperson.