Major traffic problems yesterday
10.09.07
Severe traffic delays caused by fans travelling to a motorsport event hit passengers using East Midlands Airport yesterday. Unfortunately we didn't know about the event, and so hadn't issued our usual warning. [Information about the event had been posted on the airport website - on Thursday about an event starting the next day - but there is no link from the home page, so we didn't find it.]
East Midlands Airport shares many of its access roads with Donnington Park race circuit. Several times each year a major event is held at the circuit, usually over a weekend with the main race day on a Sunday. Even though traffic management systems are put in place for the events, the events always cause delays for passengers travelling to or from the airport - particularly in the morning as people head for the track, and in the late afternoon / early evening as they head home again.
This weekends event, the Renault World Series Motor Racing, was attended by tens of thousands of people and caused traffic on the A453 to reach a standstill on Sunday morning. It was so bad that some motorists abandoned their cars and walked to the airport.
An eyewitness told BBC news that some passengers were leaving their cars and walking at least a mile to the airport. A BBC correspondent said: 'The traffic was nose-to-tail along the whole stretch of the A453 that runs alongside the M1 towards Donington and the airport.'
Unfortunately, the infrastructure in the area is such that roads often become blocked when these major events take place. Passengers using East Midlands Airport over any weekend are therefore advised to keep a close eye on the airport or the race circuit's website to see if there is an event that weekend. Whenever there is, passengers are advised to allow more time to get to or from the airport.
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