Local, state officials prepare for Bonnaroo traffic jams
Past Bonnaroo festivals have drawn about 90,000 people and a load of traffic headaches.
Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves said that he expected traffic to lighten by Friday, the first day of the event.
“We’ve noticed several people arriving already,” he said. “We just hope they don’t start parking on the side of the road.”
The 28 Coffee County deputies began rotating longer shifts Wednesday morning. They will spend 12 hours on the clock followed by 12 hours off the clock until Monday night, Graves said.
Traffic patrols also are being staffed by 90 state troopers, as well as Manchester and Tullahoma police, he said.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation has moved HELP trucks and maintenance units from Nashville and Chattanooga to the Manchester area to assist in clearing traffic problems.
Last year, traffic backed up on Interstate 24 for up to 12 miles at times.
TDOT officials said they plan to keep traffic in one lane and on the shoulder of the interstate, where possible, to help move along non-festival traffic.
Amber Dotson, operations manager at Fantasy 101.5 FM, a local radio station, said that during the first Bonnaroo in 2002, no one anticipated the volume of traffic that would come through the area. Traffic backed up not only on I-24 then, but also on U.S. Highway 41, a main thoroughfare in Manchester.
“The traffic was at a standstill,” she said. “So (the radio station employees) grilled hot dogs for the kids sitting in traffic. Now the traffic isn’t so bad.”
Bonnaroo headline acts this year include Dave Matthews, The Dead, former Phish frontman Trey Anastasio, Bob Dylan, and Widespread Panic. Performances begin Friday afternoon and wrap up early Monday morning.