With Spring Festival in second half, expect traffic congestion

Traffic authorities are warning of congestion on some intercity highways as residents begin returning to the city from Sunday.

Commuters might experience traffic jams on the Shanghai-bound sections of highways G40, G50 and G60 starting from tomorrow afternoon, with a travel rush expected from February 2 to 7, according to the Shanghai Commission of Transport.

Passengers will be returning home as the second half of the eight-day Spring Festival holiday is drawing closer.

The overall passenger flow at Shanghai's railway stations, airports and highway has been relatively stable compared to a year ago as of Friday.

Between January 28 and 31, a total number of 2.05 million passengers have left the city, a 4.56 percent increase from the same period a year ago. The amount of arriving passengers dropped 17.9 percent to about 1.56 million.

Meanwhile, commuters shall also pay attention to a change of weather in the coming days.

On Sunday, the city will experience drier conditions as drizzle is expected to weaken with temperatures predicted to drop to between 2 and 7 Celsius degrees.

It will become less cloudy from Monday but the impact of the cold spell will persist.

Wet and cold weather will stay over the remaining days of the Spring Festival holiday, which will run through next Tuesday.