Vitoria (EFE).- This Holy Week some 522,000 inbound and outbound journeys are expected on the roads of Euskadi, some 7,000 more than last year.
The Director of Traffic of the Basque Government, Sonia Díaz de Corcuera, presented this Wednesday the special Easter Week operation that this year coincides with the passage of the Itzulia through Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia, today from Errenteria to Villabona and tomorrow through Santurtzi, which It will cause circulation problems.
In addition, also as a novelty for 2023, the opening of the section of the southern metropolitan variant (“Supersur”) that connects with the AP-68 is scheduled this afternoon, with which a reduction in traffic on the A-8 is expected.
The border with Cantabria, Biriatou and Ermiños, black dots
Nearly 200 Ertzaintza agents will carry out surveillance and traffic control functions, especially at the usual points where greater vehicle flows are expected. They are the A-8 on the territorial limit with Cantabria; the AP-8, at the Biriatou tollbooth, and at the junction of the AP-1 with the A-1, at the Armiñon junction.
In outbound operation, on the A-8, on the territorial border with Cantabria, high traffic intensity is expected this Wednesday, between 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., and on Holy Thursday, between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. In return, in the direction of Bilbao, the greatest concentration of vehicles will be generated on Easter Monday, between 1:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
The biggest traffic jams on the AP-8, at the Biriatou tollbooth (in the France direction), will also be recorded this afternoon, between 2:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., and on Holy Thursday morning, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. In turn, and as Easter Monday is a holiday in France, both Friday and Saturday there will be heavy traffic in the direction of San Sebastián.
The third point of conflict in the Basque road network is the confluence of the A-1 and the AP-1 at the Armiñón junction. At this point, in the exit operation, provisional traffic signs will be enabled recommending the use of the alternative route of the N-1 between La Puebla de Arganzón and the A-1 link with the AP-1 in Armiñón.
In return, on Easter Monday, an uninterrupted passage of vehicles will be enabled, without the need to give way, of the massive flow coming from the AP-1 towards the A-1, direction Vitoria.
Goal: Zero victims
Díaz de Corcuera has insisted on the need for caution on the road, especially in these days of intense traffic, with the aim of achieving zero victims.
Last year two people died in a traffic accident in the Basque Country during Holy Week, although they were urban accidents, unrelated to the special operation. However, this is something that has not happened since 2019, when two other people lost their lives.
The number of accidents on these dates followed a downward trend since 2012 (with 123), going to 87 in 2019 and 23 in 2020 (a year marked by the restrictions of the pandemic). However, in 2021 it increased to 101 accidents and in 2022 it dropped to 80. EFE
