Park & Ride planned for Cereals 2010

ORGANISERS of this year’s Cereals Event have introduced a Park & Ride scheme in a bid to overcome traffic congestion.

Then two-day show is being held near Royston on 9-10 June. “We have had years of feedback from visitors saying it is a fantastic event, but ‘you must do something to sort out the traffic problems’,” said Jon Day of Haymarket Events.

Some of the show’s biggest draws – including cultivation demonstrations and crop plots – required the flexibility and workable acreage only available on a farm with a supportive host farmer, said Mr Day.

But finding a working farm which has a road infrastructure which allows the free flow of local residents combined with 26,500 visitors for 48 hours at peak commuting times has proved a near impossible task without severe traffic delays.

In addition, organisers must work with the local highways authority and the traffic police to find an acceptable traffic solution. “There is a great need for us to alleviate the traffic bottlenecks of last year,” Mr Day said.

Visitors will be encouraged to book their tickets online and given directions to one of three satellite car parks. All are within 15-20 minutes of the showground and a regular shuttle bus service will operate to and from the event.

“Buses will run at least every 10 minutes during peak times and every 15 minutes off peak but our aim is to provide a much more frequent service with buses running in time slots of under 5 minutes,”

The car park sites have been selected to take traffic from the eastbound A505, the southbound M11 and westbound A505 and will be operational from 6.30am to 7.30pm. Visitors will also be allowed into the event from 7am to help avoid peak commuter traffic.

“We have been working with a traffic consultant and bus operator both of which have experience of park and ride operations, as well as using local knowledge to negotiate the parking sites.

“We are confident that the locations are ideal to alleviate the traffic headaches associated with previous events. We are providing sufficient buses to manage all our visitors during the peak times.”

Haymarket had scrutinised numerous traffic control options used for reaching rural events, said Mr Day. The least favoured were outlying car parks with a long walk to the event ground and restricted access to and from event car parks.