News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Cookeville District expects a higher traffic volume across the Upper Cumberland ahead of Bonnaroo.
Captain R.C. Christian said tourists from across the country will be traveling through the area over the next couple days.
“We’ll start seeing the traffic coming in probably even tonight, Tuesday night, through Wednesday and a lot of people are prepared,” Christian said. “That’s a pretty steady flow, and the unique thing is they go different directions coming in there.”
The THP and Tennessee Department of Transportation released a statement Monday saying they would take extra precautions in keeping traffic moving and motorists safe en route to the festival.
Christian said the changes won’t significantly affect the Upper Cumberland despite the influx of traffic.
“We just maintain our presence and the aggressiveness we’ve always had,” Christian said. “We want to keep our [residents] safe and we want to also work with these people as they come through and try to keep them safe. There’s a lot of good people coming through going to Bonnaroo, and then there’s some that I’m confident they’ve got some things probably in their mind that they shouldn’t be doing.”
The THP issued over 1,000 citations to motorists during last year’s festival, with nearly half being for seat belt violations.
The four-day music festival kicks off Thursday in Manchester and runs through Sunday. The concert venue sits approximately 26 miles southwest of McMinnville.
