AROUND 70,000 music fans are expected attend this year’s Creamfields music festival at Daresbury, near Warrington and plans are in place to deal with the extra demand on the local road network.
Cheshire Police is working closely alongside the event organisers of the event as well as the Highways Agency, local councils and other emergency services to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible.
The policing operation starts at 7am on Friday (August 28) and will run until about 2pm on Monday (August 31).
Sergeant Rick Weaver, of the Roads Policing Unit, said: “There will be thousands of people travelling into the area over the Bank Holiday weekend and this will once again test the traffic infrastructure to its limits. We are confident that the plan in place will address any issues that may arise from the increase in road users.
“The traffic plan has been designed to ensure that ticket holders can access and leave the site efficiently – by the most appropriate routes. It also aims to manage the likelihood of increased traffic in the area – for the benefit of local people who will need to maintain access to their homes and local businesses.
“Local roads will have full and partial closures on them, but residents will still be able to gain access to their homes at all times.”
The majority of festival goers are likely to be heading for the site on Friday and Saturday morning and leaving on Monday morning. These are the times when residents can expect some congestion on local roads. Drivers in the area should allow extra time for their journeys and be alert as the roads will be busier than normal.
Festival goers are being advised to allow plenty of time for their journey and to use junctions 11 and 12 of the M56 and junction 7 of the M62 and to follow the designated routes as road closures will be in place.
Sergeant Weaver added, “Due to road closures that will be in place I would advise those heading to the event to follow road signs rather than rely on sat-navs. Traffic signs will point you in the right direction as you get closer to the site and also to your relevant car parks.”
Festival goers are being encouraged to make use of public transport in the area or the shuttle bus services that are running to the event from Liverpool, Manchester and Warrington – with a return service added from the site to Runcorn.
Further details of these shuttle bus services and other important information about the event – are available on the official Creamfields website at www.creamfields.com
To find out more about the policing of the event, visit the Cheshire Police website – www.cheshire.police.uk
