ICA Warns Of Heavy Traffic At Woodlands & Tuas Checkpoints From 5 Aug Due To National Day
Since the easing of land travel restrictions between Singapore and Malaysia, there have been a number of occasions when heavy traffic was seen across the Causeway.
Heavy Traffic On S’pore-Johor Causeway As June School Holidays Come To An End
This trend is likely to continue as National Day approaches. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has warned of heavy traffic at the checkpoints due to the public holiday.
Travellers can advised to expect delays when crossing the Causeway from 5 Aug to 10 Aug and also during certain peak periods.
Heavy traffic expected at land checkpoints from 5 Aug
On Thursday (4 Aug), ICA issued a travel advisory warning of potentially heavy traffic over the National Day weekend.
According to ICA, traffic volume passing through Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints have been increasing to more than 290,000 travellers per day for the last weekend of 29 Jul to 31 Jul.
The number of travellers reportedly surpassed the highest volume recorded during the June holidays, which stood at 278,000.
Source: One Motoring
It was also higher than that over the Vesak Day and Good Friday weekends, which saw up to 224,000 and 149,000 travellers per day respectively.
As a result, ICA is expecting similarly high traffic for the upcoming weekend which includes the National Day holiday on 9 Aug.
At the peak of the National Day weekend in 2019, travellers reportedly had to wait for up to four hours before clearing immigration.
Those crossing the Causeway from 5 Aug to 10 Aug are hence advised to expect delays. They’re also advised to adjust their travel plans where possible to avoid traffic congestion.
Avoid peak hours at land checkpoints
ICA has highlighted the following peak periods during which heavy traffic is expected:
Departing Singapore:
- 5 Aug — 3pm to 11.50pm
- 6 Aug — 6am to 10am, 4pm to 9pm
Arriving in Singapore:
- 7 Aug — 6pm to 11.59pm
- 8 Aug — 6pm to 11.59pm
- 9 Aug — 6pm to 11.59pm
- 10 Aug — 6pm to 11.59pm
Travellers should avoid these peak hours to the best of their ability, and factor in additional time for immigration clearance.
Those departing Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint should also take note of the upgrading works on some of the arrival immigration car booths at Bangunan Sultan Iskander.
Motorists can also monitor the traffic situation at all checkpoints via the One Motoring website or through the Expressway Monitoring & Advisory System (EMAS).
ICA will also be providing regularly update on the traffic situation via their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Plan ahead to avoid long delays
As the National Day holidays approach, we’re sure many Singaporeans are already making plans to head over to JB for a short getaway.
However, spending half of it stuck in a bad traffic jam certainly doesn’t sound like an enjoyable start to the holiday.
As such, it is probably best to plan ahead as much as possible to avoid getting caught in the heavy congestion.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
