With Easter and the April school holidays approaching, the spectre of road congestion is one that many hoping to get away during their break will be hoping to avoid.
No one wants to creep along in a traffic queue as their trip to a holiday destination takes hours more than expected of course, but delays are just one consequence of busy highways.
With more cars on the road, the risk of accidents occurring also increases, so naturally anything to reduce that risk is a good thing.
The New South Wales government is already looking ahead to the last weekend of the month, with the announcement yesterday (March 11) that a major highway works project yet to be completed will be partially opened to help ease congestion over the Easter break.
The Pacific Highway Upgrade, scheduled to be completed in 2016, will see this route between Sydney and Brisbane upgraded to a four-lane divided highway.
Work is still underway in many locations along the route, yet Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) have announced that they will temporarily open part of the highway near Bulahdelah, in order to ease congestion over Easter and the school holidays, weather permitting.
As the Easter break begins, an extra northbound lane will be created by diverting traffic onto one of the new bypass lanes.
During the second half of the break this will be reversed, with two southbound lanes created instead.
After the holiday period has ended, traffic will resume its normal route, allowing work on the upgrade to continue. This particular section of the Pacific Highway Upgrade is scheduled to be opened in June.
"We know motorists and locals were expecting the upgrade to have been completed by Easter but due to extreme wet weather, high temperatures and resource shortages the opening of the entire upgrade project has been delayed," said an RMS spokesperson in a statement.
"The Pacific Highway upgrade is one of the largest road infrastructure projects ever carried out in NSW and we are doing everything possible to make sure this much needed upgrade is finished as soon as possible."
With one extra lane available for those traveling this section of the highway over the holiday break, the traditional congestion over the Easter break may be at least somewhat alleviated.
Hopefully that will also reduce the incidence of car accidents. Anyone injured in a road accident in NSW may be entitled to car accident compensation, and can contact a compensation lawyer to discuss their eligibility.
