People from across the region have been advised to plan ahead before travelling as a number of events are held over the course of the bank holiday weekend.
In York, congestion is expected around the city, but especially in Tadcaster Road, until the end of the week as around 70,000 racegoers attend the Ebor Festival at Knavesmire from Wednesday to Saturday.
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Train travel in and out of York is also expected to be busy these days with no service on Cross Country trains on August 23 after members of the RMT scheduled a strike.
A spokesperson for the racecourse said: “There will be no service on Cross Country trains on August 23rd and you are advised to find alternative transport. Disruptions will continue through August 24th and 25th with very limited services operating.”
The Women’s Rugby World Cup is also set to be held at the LNER Community Stadium on Saturday with Canada v Fiji planned to kick off at 5.30pm with extra traffic expected around the station area.
Further afield, the annual Leeds Festival is set to take place at Branham Park from Thursday to Sunday with around 90,000 people expected to visit the site over the weekend.
The M1 and the A1(M) around Leeds is expected to be especially busy on Thursday (August 21) but is likely to be busy all weekend – especially between junctions 43 and 37.
The approach to A1M to the A64 westbound will be closed to through-traffic after the Bramham crossroads throughout this period too and the Coastliner bus service between York and Leeds, which usually travels through this area has been diverted.
National Highways Operations Manager Dave Skupski said: “Leeds Festival has a significant impact on traffic on our network. We’re expecting the roads to be extra busy, with it also being a Bank Holiday weekend.
“There are also concrete barrier works taking place this year, reducing capacity, so it could be a very busy bank holiday weekend
“Our message to anyone heading to the festival or using those key routes around Leeds over the weekend is follow signs for the festival, pay attention to updated electronic signage, don’t rely on satnavs, take extra care through roadworks, and plan ahead – don’t underestimate how busy the roads will be.
“If you’re not planning to attend, please make sure you allow extra time if you’re travelling around this area. If possible, avoid the expected peak festival arrival and departure times.”
“We’ve been working closely with Festival Republic, West Yorkshire Police and Leeds City Council to plan our traffic management and keep disruption to a minimum.”
He added that there will be extra traffic officers on duty, electronic message signs used to advise motorway users, and control room operators will be closely monitoring motorway traffic using CCTV cameras.
“Our control room operators will be closely monitoring motorway traffic using CCTV cameras.”
