New traffic advice issued for Download Festival

Highways bosses have issued advice to rock music fans ahead of the Download Festival to try to prevent a repeat of "unprecedented" congestion before last year's event.

There were major delays on nearby roads in 2023 including the M1, A50 and A453, as people were stuck in queues for hours.

Some East Midlands Airport passengers missed flights because of the traffic jams.

National Highways said 75,000 people were expected at the event at Donington Park, in Leicestershire, from Friday 14 June to Sunday 16 June.

It warned the M1, A42, A453, A50 and A38 were expected to see significant increases in traffic from Wednesday 12 June, when campsites open, and when people leave on Sunday night and Monday morning.

Download's organisers said they had developed a new traffic plan in place following last year's problems.

However National Highways has urged people driving to the festival to allow extra time for their journeys.

It has also told motorists to follow signs to the festival, which is being headlined by Queens of the Stone Age, Fall Out Boy and Avenged Sevenfold, rather than rely on sat-navs.

Drivers have also been advised not assume the route or entry point they have used in previous years will be the same.

There will be more parking fields than in previous years with an increased number of access gates, National Highways said, and people will be able to scan a QR code on their parking passes for live updates on car park availability and capacity.

Pick-up and drop-off points will not be in the same areas as the camping entrances to reduce congestion, officials said.

National Highways also said it would deploy extra traffic patrols to try to keep vehicles moving.

It advised anyone with a flight to catch at East Midlands Airport to allow more time for their journey and urged non-festival traffic to avoid the area.

Festival director Jess Shields said: "We are really aware of the issues that took place last year.

"The format of this year's event is quite different. We now have two arrival days as opossed to one last year so we can spread arrivals over two days.

"We have been working really closely with National Highways and the council to make sure everyone's happy with the plans we have in place."

She said there would also be fewer people attending the event in general so fewer cars on the road.

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