But no more – the annual slow crawl through the town will be a non-event this year with the pending opening of the bypass between Macksville and Nambucca Heads on Monday.

Transport Management Centre has just released the Christmas-New Year pinch-point warnings for travellers, and Macksville is a noticeable absentee.

The upshot though is that the ‘Maxy meltdown’ will be shipped north to Coffs Harbour, which is still lobbying for a bypass of the city.

The Transport Management Centre says anyone heading away on Christmas holidays should allow plenty of extra travel time and expect heavy traffic on major roads out of Sydney and around Sydney Airport.

“Wherever you’re driving this holiday season, make sure you plan ahead,” said a spokesperson for the Transport Management Centre.

“There’ll be extra traffic from this afternoon as some school students are starting their holidays.

“The weekend before Christmas will also be particularly busy, as will Boxing Day.”

Related:

A final serving of truck jam

Final negotiations for highway handover

The end of the bottleneck

Traffic will be heavy on roads out of Sydney and in regional areas, including:

 The M1 Pacific Motorway through the Central Coast and Hunter, particularly between Tuggerah and Morisset, and approaching John Renshaw Drive in Beresfield

 The New England Highway through Tarro in the Hunter

 The Pacific Highway between Hexham and Raymond Terrace in the Hunter

 The Pacific Highway through Coffs Harbour on the Mid North Coast

 The Pacific Highway through Woodburn on the North Coast

 The Great Western Highway through the Blue Mountains

 The Hume Motorway between Campbelltown and Mittagong

 The Princes Motorway and the Princes Highway through Albion Park Rail in the Illawarra

 The Princes Highway through Bomaderry, Nowra, Milton and Ulladulla on the South Coast

 The Kings Highway through Braidwood and between Nelligen and Batemans Bay.

Roads approaching Sydney Airport will be busy throughout the school holidays.

 Traffic around the airport is expected to be heaviest on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.

 The International Terminal is usually busiest from 6.30am to 11.30am.

 The Domestic Terminals are usually busiest from 6.30am to 11.30am and from 6pm to 10pm.

“You can avoid the airport traffic by catching a T8 Airport & South Line train instead. If you must drive, give yourself plenty of extra time,” the spokesperson said.

Motorists should also expect heavy traffic in and around the Royal National Park, and at major suburban shopping centres.

Roads around Sydney Fish Market at Pyrmont will be very busy, especially on December 23 and 24, and special event clearways will be in place.

To plan your trip on public transport visit transportnsw.info

For the latest traffic information visit livetraffic.com