Busy roads warning as music fans to rock up
IS NEXT WEEK
DRIVERS are being reminded roads will be busier as tens of thousands of rock fans descend on Donington Park next week as Download Festival marks its 20th anniversary.
With a sell-out crowd expected and an additional day of music included this year, National Highways is advising festival-goers to follow signposted routes and not sat navs to get to the site as smoothly as possible.
Camping again opens on Wednesday, June 7 but the extra day of live music starts the following day rather than on the Friday as usual.
With just one “arrival” day before the event gets under way, it is anticipated more people will be heading to the camp site on the Wednesday and roads will be busier.
Headlining this year’s festival, which runs from Thursday, June 8 until Sunday, June 11, are Metallica, Bring Me the Horizon and Slipknot. The festival attracts around 100,000 people.
National Highways will be dispatching extra traffic officer patrols and is working with the event organisers to keep the roads moving as smoothly as possible.
Donington Park is next to East Midlands Airport, four miles west of junction 23a of the M1 and five miles from junction 24.
National Highways Network Resilience Planner, Phil Shaw, said: “We expect the M1, A42, A50 and A38 to see significant increases in traffic over the festival period, particularly when everyone arrives on the Wednesday and again when they leave on Monday.
“If you are attending the Download, when you get within a few miles follow the road signs and the instructions from the organisers rather than your sat nav as they will guide you on the correct route to the correct car park.
“Our advice to all motorists is allow extra time for journeys in that area over the weekend, particularly if you are catching a flight from East Midlands Airport. And with more warm weather forecast, drivers should also have plenty of water for both themselves and their passengers and make sure they take regular breaks.”
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