This weekend we’ll be getting an appetizer to the Richmond 2015 edition of the UCI Road World Championships, as the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships come to town Friday through Sunday.
This weekend we’ll be getting an appetizer to the Richmond 2015 edition of the UCI Road World Championships, as the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships come to town Friday through Sunday. If the Monument Avenue 10k or dog parade on Easter Sunday were frustrating for drivers in Richmond, then this weekend will be positively terrifying.
It begins Thursday at 7 PM. Per USA Cycling’s traffic briefing, closings will be around “East Broad Street between 3rd and 7th streets; 5th Street between East Marshall and East Grace streets; and 3rd Street between East Clay and East Broad streets.” So in a nutshell, avoid the Business District of Downtown.
The real chaos gets underway on Friday as early as 3 AM. That’s when closures and towing will start, and will be effective until 7 PM that night. Here’s a map of the streets which will be closed on Friday:
Saturday’s closings aren’t nearly as expansive as Friday’s, but it’s all very concentrated to the Business District, much like Thursday. Closures and towing will begin at 4 AM and run again until 7 PM.
Sunday’s closings will probably be the most impactful, as the Fan, VCU Monroe Park Campus, Downtown, and Shockoe Bottom will all be shut down until about 8 PM.
The full Traffic Impact Briefing is available at the Richmond City Police Department’s website, where you can ‘Command+F’/’CTRL+F’ the street you live on or commute through regularly.
Other tools for your arsenal this weekend are Central Virginia’s 511 Twitter feed, GRTC’s service changes, and the event schedule for the whole weekend.
Usually road closings are most easily sidestepped by cycling (oh, the irony here) or taking public transit, but this weekend’s event could very remove those as options. Here’s what we recommend for this weekend:
– Allotting yourself an extra 30 minutes for any commute
– Walking, as you may have chances to go through closed roads on foot
– Working from home, if possible
– Not ordering any food for delivery
– Staying inside and crying
– Surprising your out-of-state relatives with a visit
– Moving to the Short Pump Wal-Mart parking lot for the weekend
Here’s hoping this weekend is like ripping a Band-Aid off quickly: abrupt, painful in the moment, and forgotten about immediately after.
