2 freeway sections congest Saturday morning, 18 accidents reported

Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) Traffic heading north surged Saturday morning, two days before the end of the Lunar New Year holiday, leading to congestion on two national freeways and 18 accidents on freeways across Taiwan.

In a statement issued at noon, the Freeway Bureau said that aside from congestion on two freeway sections, traffic on other sections remained smooth.

It said the main areas facing congestion during the morning were the northbound section of National Freeway No. 1 between the Daya and Taichung exits and the northbound section of National Freeway No. 5 between Yilan and Toucheng.

As of 11 a.m., a total of 18 accidents were reported, including a rear-end collision at 10:08 a.m., involving a passenger car and a pickup truck on the northbound exit lane of the Dingjin system on National Freeway No. 1, blocking the exit, the bureau said.

The accident was cleared at 10:37 a.m. but resulted in a 1-kilometer traffic backup, the bureau said.

Key congestion hotspots in the afternoon were likely to include northbound sections on National Freeway No. 1 between Xiluo and Puyan, Nantun and Houli, and Miaoli and Hukou, the bureau said.

On National Freeway No. 3, northbound sections between Zhushan and Zhongxing, Caotun and Wufeng, Dashan and Xiangshan, and Guanxi and Daxi, were expected.

Other congested areas were likely to come on northbound lanes on National Freeway No. 5 between Yilan and Pinglin; westbound lanes on National Freeway No. 4 between Tanzi and Fengshi; and westbound lanes on National Freeway No. 6 between the Dongcaotun exit and Wufeng interchange.

The bureau advised motorists to use the bureau's "1968" website and app for freeway information and to tune in to the police radio station while driving for real-time traffic updates to help avoid the worst traffic jams.