TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Dragon Boat Festival holiday kicked off on Friday with heavy early morning traffic reported across Taiwan’s national freeways, according to the Freeway Bureau.

Live updates from the bureau at 9:50 a.m. indicated that congestion remained severe on many major routes.

On National Freeway 1 southbound, traffic slowed to 25 kph between the Hukou Service Area and Zhubei. Similarly, speeds on southbound National Freeway 3 dropped below 40 kph between the Yingge System and Daxi, per CNA.

To mitigate congestion, authorities implemented several traffic control measures. These included ramp closures at select interchanges—Shiding and Pinglin on National Freeway 5 from midnight to noon, and Pingzhen and Puyan Systems on National Freeway 1 from 5 a.m. to noon.

Additional measures included a flat toll rate, time-based pricing, shoulder lane openings, ramp metering, the use of alternative routes, and a suspension of all highway construction work during the holiday period.

Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to improve, with most regions becoming partly to mostly sunny. The bureau forecasts peak congestion on southbound routes during the morning hours.

Critical bottlenecks are expected along National Freeway 1’s elevated section from the Airport System to Yangmei, Yangmei to Toufen, and Changhua to the Puyan System. On National Freeway 3, traffic is likely to be heaviest between Zhonghe and Guanxi, Baoshan and Jiadong, and Kuaiguan and Wufeng.

Northbound traffic is also expected to slow in several areas, particularly between Yuanshan and the Dahua System on National Freeway 1, as well as on portions of National Freeways 5 and 10.