Traffic is backed up for hours along Interstate 24 westbound toward Manchester, Tenn., before a previous Bonnaroo festival.NOT GOING TO BONNAROO?If you have no plans to attend Bonnaroo but still must drive through the festival area in Coffee County from Thursday to Sunday, the Tennessee Department of Transportation suggests several detours to get around traffic snarls.
Like a return trip to the 1970s, the speed limit on 25 miles of Interstate 24 later this week will drop to 55 mph to improve safety for travelers during the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.
It’s all about safety, officials said. The temporary speed limit, now in its second year, affects I-24 from mile marker 104.6 to mile marker 129.4 and remains in effect until the festival is over Sunday night.
Tennessee’s Highway Patrol and Department of Transportation are teaming up with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office and Manchester Police Department to keep traffic moving as the festival-faithful, numbering 80,000 or more, start piling into the county today.
Gates this year open at 8 p.m. CDT today to give people more time to get their vehicles into the campgrounds.