Overview
- Traffic clubs expect some of the year’s worst backups Wednesday afternoon as getaway drivers meet commuters and long‑running roadworks choke key routes.
- In North Rhine‑Westphalia, ADAC warns of major jams from 1 to 6 p.m. around Cologne and the Ruhr, after last year’s pre‑holiday queues there reached 1,878 kilometers.
- The A40 toward Venlo closes at Kreuz Kaiserberg from Wednesday 9 p.m. to Tuesday 5 a.m., with detours via A3, A42 and A59 likely to slow local routes.
- The A61 near Mönchengladbach shuts both directions Friday 10 p.m. to Monday morning for bridge work, sending traffic onto regional roads.
- A holiday truck ban Thursday from midnight to 10 p.m. should ease heavy‑goods traffic, with flow expected to improve Friday and Saturday before a Sunday afternoon return rush; cross‑border routes like Brenner, Tauern and Gotthard and checks at Suben, Walserberg and Kiefersfelden could add long waits.