Hit roads before Aug. 9-10 for Eid: Analysis

ISTANBUL

An analysis undertaken by the Yandex Navigator application has suggested that Turkish vacationers who are leaving the city for the Eid al-Adha holiday (“Festival of the Sacrifice”) get on the road either early Aug. 9 or Aug. 10 afternoon to avoid traffic entanglements.

The application based its analysis on the traffic data from this year’s Eid al-Fitr, also known as the Ramadan Feast, and on traffic data from both the Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in 2018.

The application said during three previous holidays, the day when most of the vacationers hit the road is Friday just before the beginning of the holiday. So, those who set out on their journey before the afternoon of that Friday got stuck in much less traffic.

In a normal time, a road journey from the European side of Istanbul time to the city of İzmit, located east of Istanbul, using the TEM motorway takes about 80-100 minutes. But during the upcoming Eid al-Adha, this time period is expected to rise up to 270 minutes, especially during the evening hours of Aug. 9 and the morning of Aug. 10. And as of the first day of the holiday, i.e. Aug. 11, this period is expected to fall to its normal range.

Another route that will be used highly during the holiday will be the road between İzmit and Gerede, a town in the Black Sea province of Bolu, via the Anatolian highway. Normally, it takes about 100-120 minutes between İzmit and Gerede, but during the Eid al-Adha, again this time period is expected to rise up to 235 minutes.

In the previous Islamic holidays, for this İzmit-Gerede route, the most traffic jams were seen between 5 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Another route that is always busy just prior to the holidays is the Antalya-Alanya-Gazipaşa in the Mediterranean region, according to Yandex Navigator. Normally, the travel time between these points is 115 minutes, whereas during the Eid al-Adha this time is expected to rise up to 160 minutes. The traffic jam is expected to start at 9 a.m. on Aug. 10 and continue until the evening of the same day.

The Black Sea coastal road, a major west-east state road in northern Turkey that serves the Black Sea coast, is also one of the other routes that will be busy prior to the holiday. Normally, the route between the provinces of Samsun and Rise takes about 300 minutes, but this time is expected to go up to 400 minutes during the holiday.

The traffic is expected to be busy on the Black Sea coastal road starting in the morning of Aug. 9 and last until 7 p.m. on the same day, and then again be busy between 9 a.m. and evening hours on Aug. 10.

The Eid al-Adha holiday this year is scheduled for Aug. 11 (Sunday) through Aug. 14 (Wednesday).