Motorists are being warned that the roads around Donington Park in North West Leicestershire are likely to be busy this weekend as the Download music festival gets underway.
The event, which runs from Friday 10th June to Monday 13th June 2011, is expected to attract up to 55,000. Many campers will start arriving at Donington Park from Wednesday 8th June.
The police have worked with ‘SEP Limited’, a specialist traffic management and car parking contractor, since 2006 to manage the traffic in and around the venue and reduce delays for other road users. Because of the volume of people attending Download, the roads will be generally more congested than normal; however entry to the festival is spread over three days so the impact on traffic is not expected to be too heavy.
All campers have to have vacated the campsite by the afternoon of Monday 13th June. This means that the highest volume of traffic coming away from the festival can be expected between the Sunday night and Monday afternoon. As a result, a one-way system will be in place, directing traffic away from Donington Park, at the following times:
Sunday 12th June: 8pm- 2am
Monday 13th June: 7am – 4pm
The one-way system is designed to divert traffic away from the festival exit where there will be a heavy pedestrian flow, therefore helping to make the area safer. Directional signage along the roads will provide more detailed information on the diversion route.
The A453 is a priority exit for festival goers so this road will be busy in both directions (from Donington Park towards the junction 24a exit of the M1 roundabout, and from Donington Park towards the A42). Try to avoid using the A453 wherever possible as it will be the most consistently busy road during the festival weekend.
The traffic light junction directly outside the main entrance to Donington Park will also be an area of slow traffic movement due to the pedestrians crossing between the festival car parks and the main entrance / exit.
People flying from East Midlands Airport this weekend are advised to allow extra time for their journey to the airport.
Inspector Chris Brown, the Commander of North West Leicestershire Local Policing Unit, said;
“We are not expecting major traffic hold-ups this weekend but the roads are likely to be much busier than usual and there is likely to be some disruption.
We would urge people travelling by car to follow the signs, the routes have been carefully worked out to get people in and out of the site as easily as possible so if motorists stick to the correct routes it should all run smoothly as it has done in previous years.”