Taipei: Heavy congestion is expected on 15 freeway sections later Sunday as the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend enters its second day, the Freeway Bureau said, although conditions were mostly clear in the morning.

According to Focus Taiwan, citing real-time traffic data, the bureau reported that conditions were mostly smooth around noon. It forecast Sunday’s total traffic at about 115 million vehicle-kilometers, about 1.3 times the weekday average.

With mostly sunny to partly cloudy weather across the island, the bureau predicted heavy travel in the afternoon, particularly on several key sections of the freeways. These include Freeway No. 1, where heavy traffic is anticipated southbound between Yangmei and Toufen, and northbound between Xiluo and Puyan System, Nantun and Houli, Miaoli and Hukou, and Yuanshan and Dahua System.

On Freeway No. 3, congestion is expected southbound between Tucheng and Guanxi, and northbound between Zhushan and Zhongxing, Caotun and Wufeng, Dashan and Xiangshan, and Guanxi and Daxi. Additionally, Freeway No. 5 is predicted to have heavy traffic southbound between Nangang System and Toucheng, and northbound between Yilan and Pinglin.

Other anticipated busy sections include Freeway No. 4 westbound between Tanzih System and Fengshi, Freeway No. 6 westbound between Jiuzheng and Wufeng System, and Freeway No. 10 westbound between Renwu and Zuoying.

Northbound traffic on western Taiwan’s freeways is expected to start building between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. and ease after 8 p.m. Northbound traffic on Freeway No. 5 will start increasing after noon and may not clear until midnight, the bureau said. Southbound travelers on Freeway No. 5 are advised to depart after 5 p.m. to avoid congestion.

Motorists can check real-time traffic updates on the bureau’s 1968 website (https://1968.freeway.gov.tw/) or mobile app.