TDOT takes steps to improve Bonnaroo traffic

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is preparing for the extra traffic generated by Manchester’s annual Bonnaroo music festival. The 2005 festival occurs June 10-12, but plans for handling the increased volume of traffic will be put into operation before the festival begins.

The area in and around Manchester will experience much heavier levels of traffic during the Bonnaroo weekend. Traffic on Interstate 24 will be affected, as well as traffic on state routes and local roads. A team comprised of state officials, local officials and festival promoters has made improvements in this year’s traffic plan so that people traveling to the festival will be able to enter and exit the festival area more rapidly.

“TDOT is working with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, local law enforcement officials, emergency responders, and the promoters of the festival to ensure that traffic is handled in the most efficient manner possible,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “Our goal each year is to improve on the previous year’s performance, and this year is no exception.”

The festival gates will open on Thursday, June 9 at 7:00 a.m. CDT. “Traditionally the traffic has been heaviest on the Thursday before the festival,” said Roger Steward, TDOT’s regional HELP Supervisor, “so we are well prepared to deal with the situation.” HELP roadside assistance and congestion mitigation units from Nashville and Chattanooga will be in the area assisting with traffic management beginning on Wednesday at noon, and they will remain there until Monday afternoon when the festival traffic clears out.

In addition to having HELP trucks on the scene, TDOT and other agencies are taking the following steps on the dates surrounding Bonnaroo beginning June 8 through June 13:

Efforts will be concentrated on keeping interstate traffic flowing.

Exit 111 (SR 55) will be used as the main festival exit. Exits 105, 112, and 117 are alternate exits if congestion occurs on the interstate.

TDOT maintenance units will be posted throughout the festival region and maintenance personnel will be on call all weekend.

TDOT will provide variable message signs to warn drivers of delays.

There will be no lane closures on I-24 for construction near the Bonnaroo festival area between June 8 and June 13.

Median crossovers will be guarded to prevent motorists from parking in the crossovers and blocking emergency vehicles.

Festival traffic will be kept in the right lane and/or on the shoulder of the interstate, letting through traffic have the left lane unimpeded.

Emergency vehicles will use county roads that will be kept at low volume.

Bonnaroo promoters are issuing early news releases to the trucking industry and other sources so the traveling public will be informed of festival times and location and possibly reroute some of their vehicles.

Temporary communications towers are in place to improve emergency communications.

For Bonnaroo traffic updates on the weekend of the festival, motorists are asked to consult the TDOT website, www.tennessee.gov/tdot, or call the department’s toll-free hotline 1.800.858.6349 for traffic updates.