Jennifer Flynn

PDF: Bonnaroo traffic detours

State highway officials are stopping all lane-closing projects this week to clear the path for an expected 80,000 travelers headed for the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.

The festival starts Thursday night and runs through Sunday night.

To keep traffic moving, officials changed construction schedules on area work, including a project to raise the Interstate 24 overpass at Kimball, said Jennifer Flynn, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

“We will not be doing any work at all that requires lane closures on the interstate” in Coffee, Franklin, Marion and Grundy counties between 3 p.m. today and 3 p.m. Monday, Ms. Flynn said.

Travelers could encounter work elsewhere in the region. There may be daytime lane closures on U.S. Highway 64 in Bradley County. In Hamilton County, lanes on Interstate 75 may be closed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. between mile markers 10 and 12, she said.

As drivers near the festival, they should stay to the right on the road, she said.

“What we’ll do is keep the traffic in the right lane and the shoulder dedicated to Bonnaroo traffic, and the inside lane will be dedicated to through traffic,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee Highway Patrol is shifting into high gear as the annual pilgrimage to Coffee County begins, THP Col. Mike Walker said.

Up to 100 troopers will bolster local agencies’ and TDOT’s efforts to keep traffic flowing smoothly, he said.

“Our goal is to make sure that I-24 stays accident-free and clear for festivalgoers and other travelers,” he said.

The I-24 project at the Kimball/South Pittsburg exit was scheduled to start this month. TDOT plans to raise the bridge so trucks can pass below on U.S. Highway 72. But “permitting issues concerning the wetland in the area” delayed work until fall, Ms. Flynn said.