Brisbane traffic: Motorways clogged with Easter holiday traffic leaving Gold and Sunshine coasts

Tempers were flaring amid Easter Monday traffic chaos on major arterials across South East Queensland, with motorists experiencing significant delays.

Drivers experienced heavy delays on Monday. Picture: Lachie Millard/File

Easter Monday traffic chaos started early on major arterials across South East Queensland, with motorists experiencing significant delays from the morning.

The traffic had eased by 5.30pm but at 4.20pm, congestion on the Bruce Highway from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane was still a crawl as motorists headed home after the Easter long weekend.

Twenty-minute delays were to be expected in the southbound lanes of the Bruce Hwy compounded by roadworks, according to Queensland Traffic.

It came after the highway had been reeling with bumper-to-bumper delays of more than half an hour earlier from the exodus of holiday makers.

Travel time from Maroochydore to Kallangur was 1hr 25min earlier, nearly twice the usual.

Roadworks at Elimbah and Burpengary had also exacerbated the delays.

“You’ll never guess. Traffic southbound on the Bruce Highway is f---ed around Caloundra Rd,” a post on popular traffic monitoring Facebook page Sunshine Coast Police Locations posted.

On the Gold Coast there were minor delays on the Pacific Motorway at Pimpama and Yatala but heavy closer to the NSW border .

The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland had warned motorists to expect busy roads over Easter.

“Let’s remember the Easter long weekend for all the right reasons,” the club warned.

“Roads will be busy, so make sure you allow plenty of time to get to where you need to be, take extra care, so we can all arrive at our destination safely.”