Walpole Ready For Possible Traffic Problems From Country Music Festival

Walpole Town Administrator Michael Boynton recently attended a Foxborough Board of Selectmen meeting in which the issue of traffic during the Aug. 24-25 New England Country Music Festival at Gillette Stadium was discussed.

The Foxborough concert is final leg of the Kenny Chesney-Tim McGraw's "Brothers of the Sun" tour. The event sold out for two nights last year and was a sellout from 2005-09.

Last year, traffic problems backed up Route 1, leading to the stadium. Parking lots don't open until 2 p.m. before the concert.

Boynton said Edward O'Leary, the chief of police for Foxborough, gave a presentation outlining the plans for Foxborough’s role in mitigating traffic around Route 1 in their area.

The Walpole town administrator said that both towns’ police departments have created a plan in which to deal with the traffic the extremely popular concert creates.

The problem of overflow from Route 95 on Walpole’s side during Saturday portion of the concert is the town’s main concern during the show.

Boynton said that both town police departments have a backup plan for traffic overflow in terms of detours to alleviate sections of the road.

“We will also have a contingency plan in Walpole in case traffic begins to back up,” he said. “We will be geared up for this one.”

Boynton added Dan Murphy, vice president of business development for The Kraft Group, has been very responsive to the traffic concerns of Walpole.