The end of summer is approaching and, with it, the end of the holidays for many. In these last days of the month of August, the last return operation will take place on Spanish roads and, therefore, millions of trips are expected this weekend. The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) will launch this Thursday from 3:00 p.m. to midnight on Sunday, September 3, the last of the special devices prepared for this summer.
Specifically, it is expected that there will be about 6,820,000 long-distance movements on the road for these days. The DGT also points out that not only will there be return trips from vacation, but these dates also coincide with the start of the September vacation for many others, especially to coastal tourist areas.
Between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. this Thursday, “high traffic intensities” will begin to occur in the return direction and withholdings on the main communication road axes that channel all movement from coastal and rest areas to large urban centers.
On Friday, between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., “high traffic intensity” will join in the direction out of the big cities and in the main communication routes for access to the tourist coastal and rest areas along with the usual weekends. week, also in the outbound direction, mainly to coastal areas and second homes.
Between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, “heavy traffic” will continue in the outbound direction due to the beginning of the weekend and the September holidays towards tourist coastal and rest areas, movements that will join the usual weekend short-distance summer week to areas of second residence and beaches.
Sunday will be the last day of the return of those who finish their vacations and those who have made a weekend getaway. For this reason, between 4:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., there will be “high traffic intensity” and “circulation problems” on the main communication road axes that concentrate all the movement back from the coastal and rest areas to the big cities. .
To avoid traffic jams and incidents on the roads, the DGT recommends, as always, planning trips in advance and, if possible, avoiding the most unfavorable hours.
To provide coverage for this special operation and ensure that all planned movements are safe, the DGT will establish traffic regulation, management and surveillance measures: additional and reversible lanes with cones at times of greatest traffic flow and on the main access roads to the big cities; restriction of the circulation of dangerous goods vehicles, special transport and trucks in general and those that transport certain goods in certain sections, dates and times
To all these measures will be added the stoppage of works on the roads and limitation to the holding of sports events and other events that involve the occupation of the road; and the design of recommended alternative itineraries according to origin and destination, with distances and travel times and, in some cases, avoiding the downtown area, which is the one with the highest traffic intensity.
The DGT also plans to make a large material and human deployment for this weekend. Agents from the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard, civil servants from the eight Traffic Management Centers and personnel in charge of maintaining equipment and installing road measures, in addition to emergency services personnel, will be the ones who will ensure the good course these days.
Regarding material resources, the DGT will have 780 fixed speed control radars, of which 92 are section, 545 mobile radars that can be embarked on Civil Guard Traffic vehicles, 245 cameras and 15 camouflaged vans to control of the use of mobile phones and seat belts.
It will also have helicopters and drones for surveillance from the air and unmarked vehicles and motorcycles that will circulate on all types of roads in order to verify the correct behavior of drivers while driving.
