GRIDLOCK Roads misery as Download Festival roars into action

GRIDLOCK jammed roads around Melbourne on June 7 as many thousands of revellers headed to Download, bringing misery to festival-goers and local people alike

Celebrating its 20th birthday this year, Download Festival was a sell-out with an extra day of music put on to entertain vast crowds

But extreme congestion on local roads meant the approach to the event was anything but entertaining

Some festival-goers were forced to wait in their cars for up to nine hours, not getting into the venue until the early hours of the following morning

The issues were so severe they made national news

In Melbourne, a queue of traffic was at a standstill all down Cockshut Lane, Robinson’s Hill, and for a long way down the A587 to Ashby for many hours

Drivers were reduced to standing next to their cars in the sunshine, and some simply got out and walked with their tents to the festival, leaving only the driver sitting in traffic

Councillor Martin Fitzpatrick, district councillor for Melbourne, said he had comforted one poor lady who was sobbing in her car late at night because of the stress Roads began snarling up in the morning, and by early afternoon there were very severe problems in many directions

Chellaston Academy pupils going home were allowed to simply get off their bus and walk from the Breach Lane turn-off – getting back an hour later than normal

Parents picking up children from school could not get there for hours after normal pick-up time, while com- muters trying to go home from work were taking as much as three hours to arrive after becoming stuck in congested roads

The number two Arriva bus service was not able to serve Melbourne for a time during the afternoon, posting on social media at 3

One of the services was delayed by three hours

Cllr Fitzpatrick said he had first encountered the situation around Download at 6 30 in the morning on his way out of the area, when he was stopped by festival marshals and noticed only a few cars were being let in at a time even at that hour

Going home in the afternoon, he was held up for nearly three hours between Staunton Harold and Melbourne

Later, on his way up to the MSP at around 8 30pm, Cllr Fitzpatrick said he stopped and spoke to drivers jammed on Cockshut Lane and said most had come off the A42 at Ashby and were reporting having been stuck for four or five hours

Late at night he went out again and spoke to drivers still stuck on Main Street in Kings Newton, with that road at a standstill at midnight

“There was a lot of Dunkirk spirit,” said Cllr Fitzpatrick “We were protected in Melbourne town centre because people did follow the signs and they followed the right direction Nobody tried to cheat and go through the centre of the town

“What went wrong? There was something fundamentally that went wrong with the organisation That needs sorting

“I think the local community is quite supportive of Download People were saying ‘poor things’ and trying to help them ”