Highways England is doing its V best for festival-goers
Highways England aims to make journeys to V festival as smooth as possible for road users.
Highways England is assuring road users that it’s doing its best to make journeys as smooth as possible as tens of thousands of music fans head to V Festival in Staffordshire and Essex next weekend (20 to 21 August).
Festival-goers and road users travelling through the area are advised to be prepared and plan ahead as more than 70,000 people make their way to Hylands Park, Chelmsford, and Weston Park in Staffordshire, over the course of the weekend.
Keith Davies, Emergency Planning Officer at Highways England, said:
Although we don’t have any planned road closures, we expect the A12 near Chelmsford, the M11 junctions 7 to 9 and M25 junctions 29 to 28 to be much busier than normal.
The northbound exit slip road on the M6 at junction 12 will be closed on the morning of the Friday 19 August to help ease congestion with routes signposted for the event. We expect the M6 junction 13 to 12 and the A5 to be much busier than normal.
Months ahead of the festival, we work hard alongside event organisers, the police and other partners, using our expertise in handling traffic to help ensure festival-goers have a trouble-free journey to kick off their weekend of fun.
The campsite opens at midday on Friday 19 and closes at midday on Monday 22 August, so we expect the run-up to and from these times to be particularly busy. We also expect traffic to be busier in the area throughout the weekend.
We strongly advise festival-goers and road users in the area to plan ahead, ensure vehicles have sufficient fuel, and to have plenty of drinks, such as water, available in the vehicle in case of any delays.
Those travelling from the south should use junction 10a of the M6 and then to travel onto the M54 towards the venue. Those travelling from the north should use junction 12 of the M6 and head onto the A5.
Signs will direct festival traffic on different routes depending on which direction it is arriving from.
Traffic is also expected to be busy in the same areas on Monday morning as people head home from the festival.
Highways England provides live traffic information via its website, iPhone app, local radio travel bulletins and electronic road signs.
Travel information is also available by phone from the Highways England Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000 and updates will be provided via Twitter @HighwaysEAST and @HighwaysWMIDS.
General enquiries
Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.
Media enquiries
Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.