A four-mile tailback greeted motorists approaching Enfield, Co Kildare, yesterday. A mid-afternoon oil spillage west of the town caused further delays to the already slow-moving bank-holiday traffic.
While Enfield was the worst affected spot in what was said to have been the busiest holiday weekend of the year, the majority of motorists on all main routes experienced delays as the rush to return to Dublin got under way.
AA Roadwatch estimated that there were some 200,000 motorists on the move yesterday.
N4 traffic remained backed up to Clonard, just east of Kinnegad, well into the evening, adding an extra half hour on to motorists' journeys. The oil spillage, two miles west of Enfield at Blackwater Bridge, caused further delays in the afternoon, but the road was gritted and operating as normal by early evening.
Galway-to-Dublin traffic on the N4 was generally slow moving and heavy throughout the day.
Gardai at Galway reported that all outbound routes from the city were congested as the last of the punters from last week's Galway Races left the city. Eastbound traffic faced minor delays at Ballinasloe, on the N6.
Meanwhile, motorists travelling northbound from Cork and Limerick to Dublin did not experience the usual gridlock at Kildare and Monasterevin. "Kildare surprised us - usually we warn people to expect delays of anything from a half hour to an hour, but traffic was moving well compared to what we forecast," reported Evanna Lyons of AA Roadwatch.
During peak hours, motorists travelling through the town only encountered delays of 20 minutes. With expectations of gridlock, gardai at Kildare employed their holiday-weekend traffic contingency plan: traffic lights in the centre of the town were switched off while two gardai directed and controlled the continuous flow of traffic.
The build-up began at lunchtime, and while traffic was heavy and slow-moving all day, excessive delays were avoided.
The N11 at Gorey, Co Wexford, was another black spot. Traffic travelling northbound from Wexford was heavy and faced half-hour delays at Gorey for most of the day. Though volumes eased off by late afternoon, traffic was still slow-moving for most of the evening.
Other traffic hot spots yesterday included Fermoy, Co Cork, Abbeyleix, Co Laois, Ashbourne, Co Meath and Dundalk, Co Louth. Bus Eireann carried an estimated 100,000 passengers over the weekend. Irish Rail operated a special bank holiday timetable with extra services yesterday.
Wet weather earlier in the day worsened traffic, but conditions had improved greatly by late afternoon.