More than 5.5 million long-distance and internal journeys will take place on the roads of the Valencian Community during Holy Week. This is what the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) foresees and represents a slight increase of 2.5% compared to the same period in 2022. By provinces, 2.55 million trips are expected in Valencia, two million in Alicante and Castellón one million. The second phase of the operation starts this Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. and ends at 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday the 11th.
This is how the Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé, explained it at the presentation of the campaign at the Valencia Traffic Department. At the state level, in the second phase 9.4 million long-distance journeys are expected, 20% of them in the Community.
The delegate has called on drivers to exercise extreme caution, especially to avoid drinking alcohol while driving in line with the DGT campaign ‘Alcohol lies to you. Only 0 has 0 consequences’, as she recalled that one in three road accidents is due to alcohol and that “children are often the main victims”.
It has also recommended planning the trip in advance, avoiding the most unfavorable days and times as much as possible, and finding the best route. During the operation there will be 800 members of the Traffic Civil Guard, a DGT helicopter that transmits images in real time and two drones, with the collaboration of the local police.
These are the most unfavorable hours for circulation: this Wednesday between 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.; this Thursday the 6th between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.; this Friday the 7th between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.; this Sunday the 9th between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.; on Monday 10 between 10 and 14 and 16 and 21 hours.
Some of the conflicting points are the A-3 at the height of Requena and Quart de Poblet, the confluence between the AP-7 and the A-3 in the ‘bypass’ of Valencia, the connections between the A-7 and the N -332 in the final part of the Gandia variant, the crossings of Bellreguard, the entrance to Tavernes de la Valldigna or the roundabout at the entrance to Cullera.
During the first part of the operation, between last Friday and Sunday, there were no traffic accidents with fatalities in the Community. This phase, with more than 2.3 million trips on Valencian roads, resulted in a 100% decrease in the accident rate compared to last year.
However, the delegate regretted that the first day of the second phase began with a fatal accident in Pilar de la Horadada (Alicante) with one person dead and eight injured due to a van that left the road and overturned.
