Road Closures - Sonisphere Festival

7 July 2011, 16:11 | Updated: 7 July 2011, 16:15

Ahead of the Sonisphere Festival this weekend drivers are being warned about potential delays and the partial closure of Junction 7 of the A1M at Knebworth House.

Between 6am on Thursday, July 7 and 12pm on Monday, July 11, the southbound off slip at junction 7 and the northbound on slip will be closed.

People travelling to the festival northbound on the A1(m) will be directed to leave the motorway at junction 7 and take the first left at the roundabout into the estate. People travelling south on the A1(m) will be directed to leave the motorway at junction 8 and take the A602 towards Hitchin before joining the B656 southbound. Traffic will follow this for approximately six miles before being directed left into the estate.

There will be shuttle buses for event goers to and from Stevenage station. These will pick up and drop off from the steps from the station in the leisure park car park.

A drop off and pick up area will be provided within the estate and will be assessable from either the A1(m) junction 7 north bound or the A602 from Steven age over the top of the A1(m) junction 7.

Superintendent Simon Hawkins from the force events planning team said: “We are in for a very busy weekend as not only will thousands of people be heading for Knebworth Park for Sonisphere, but thousands will also be heading to Hitchin for Rhythms of the World.

“We appreciate that this will have some impact on the local community and may cause delays and I would ask residents to please bear with us throughout the weekend and where possible take alternative routes. We have been working with the event organisers and the Highway Authorities for months to make improvements on the road plans from last year and traffic will be monitored during the course of the weekend.

“The A1M junction 7 is being closed to ensure the safety of those walking to the site. This year the closure comes into place on the Thursday and we hope this will save any confusion for people who regularly use the road. We have also put in place a one-way-system this year to help the flow of the traffic.”