Heavy traffic forecast for 7 freeway sections Saturday afternoon

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) Heavy traffic is expected on seven sections of Taiwan's national freeways Saturday afternoon as travelers hit the road on the first day of the three-day Teachers' Day holiday, according to the Freeway Bureau.

Motorists are advised to stay informed of traffic conditions beforehand, avoid peak hours and congested roads, the bureau said in a news release on Saturday.

However, it also urged the public to make greater use of public transportation.

As of 1:17 p.m., southbound traffic on Freeway No. 1 between the Hukou Service Area and Zhubei was congested, moving at 14 kilometers per hour (kph), while vehicles on the southbound lanes between Zhulin and Baoshan were traveling at 20 kph, the bureau's real-time traffic data showed.

Later in the afternoon, the bureau forecast congestion on the elevated southbound lanes between the Airport System Interchange and Yangmei, the Yangmei-Toufen section, the stretch between the Changhua and Puyan system interchanges, as well as on the northbound lanes between Yuanshan and the Dahua System Interchange.

Traffic on three other sections is also expected to pick up, including the southbound Freeway No. 5 from Nangang System Interchange to Toucheng, the westbound Freeway No. 10 from Renwu to Zuoying, and the northbound lanes between Yuanshan and the Dahua System Interchange.

Three traffic accidents that occurred earlier in the day, including one on the southbound lanes of Freeway No. 3, caused temporary congestion but have since been cleared, the bureau said.