Holiday-makers heading to the Sunshine Coast hit brakes on Bruce Highway

While travellers to the Sunshine Coast have battled Good Friday gridlock, it’s been a different story on the drive south to the Gold Coast.

Traffic crawls on the Bruce Highway at Caboolture.

Congestion on the Bruce Highway has eased for travellers heading north to the Sunshine Coast for the long weekend.

Drivers added up to 30 minutes to their trip today as the lifting of the Greater Brisbane lockdown and a car crash at Burpengary about 1.30pm compounded Easter delays.

Travellers reported traffic beginning to build as early as 8am and by 11am, a 25km stretch between North Lakes and Elimbah had cars crawling.

Northbound delays had eased by 5pm while traffic was steady to the Gold Coast throughout Easter Friday.

No significant congestion was reported heading west towards Toowoomba.

Good Friday gridlock on the M1 north of Brisbane

Earlier, traffic had slowed to a craw along a 25km stretch of the Bruce Highway.

Congestion from North Lakes to Elimbah has added up to 40 minutes to the trip for drivers with the same Easter plans.

The northbound lanes of the Bruce Highway at Beerwah were also hosting heavy traffic about 11.30am.

“Pack your patience …” RACQ said in a tweet.

Greater Brisbane’s lockdown was lifted at noon on Thursday coinciding with the start of a long weekend, while showers in the region didn’t do any favours for mayhem on the motorways.

Brisbane commuters heading south sat in traffic for up to an hour more than usual after three crashes between Pimpama and Helensvale on the Pacific Motorway.

The drive to the Gold Coast appeared less onerous on Friday morning and those heading west to Toowoomba had a smooth run.

Good Friday traffic on the M1 north of Brisbane

Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has asked Queenslanders to be patient on the roads this long weekend, with one life already lost.

A woman died on early Friday morning in a single vehicle crash in Far North Queensland when her car rolled about 5.40am on the Kennedy Highway.

The Mount Garnet woman died at the scene.

“We really wanted to get through Easter without losing anyone. We haven’t achieved that already,” Mr Gollschewski said.

“We’re expecting some pretty wet weather, please drive to the conditions and take care.

“It’s really, really concerning, despite all the messaging, that in the 24 hours to midnight last night, we had to issue over 1000 traffic infringement notices across the state, 1076, to be precise,” he said.

“We have seen 22 injury crashes already.”

Police have issued more than 500 speeding fines in just 24 hours, including three motorists travelling more than 60km/h over the speed limit in Rockhampton.