The streets of Glasgow are being transformed to become world class road event courses for the Commonwealth Games and residents and business will need to plan ahead.
The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games and the city is set to be shown off to its fullest when it hosts three road events; the Marathon (Sunday, 27 July), the Cycling Time Trial (Thursday, 31 July) and the Cycling Road Race (Sunday, 3 August).
The road events will take the action from Glasgow’s streets to the scenic roads of North Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire, and the days of the road events are expected to be some of the busiest of the 11 days of sport.
Paul Zealey, Glasgow 2014 Head of Engagement said, “The Road Events will take the Commonwealth Games action from the city to North Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire, providing a captivating backdrop to a world class event which will be viewed by a global audience of more than one billion. The event also creates the opportunity for surrounding communities to see some of the world’s best athletes without needing a ticket … It will be a special time and we want people to enjoy the Glasgow 2014 experience as much as possible.”
To facilitate the events, there will be temporary changes put in place in the areas surrounding the road event courses on event days. This will include road closures, changes to some road access, and parking restrictions. To help the people who live, work or operate businesses nearby the road event courses plan ahead, Get Ready Glasgow has published full details of the restrictions that will be in place on road race events on the Get Ready Glasgow website, along with maps illustrating closures.
Residents and businesses can access this information now to get a better understanding of how they will be impacted. In addition to the information available on the website, communities and businesses from across Glasgow are also invited to attend a series of drop-in events to find out more about what will be happening in their local area on road event days, including more information on road closures that will be in place for Commonwealth Games road events.
The first drop-in session for communities will take place on Wednesday, 11 June at Hillhead Library. A full list of dates, times and location of drop-in sessions is available on the Get Ready Glasgow website. These drop-in sessions will allow residents and businesses to ask questions and get advice on how they can change their normal routines to minimise impact on their day-to-day activities.
The maps illustrate the maximum time period that restrictions will be in place for. Roads will only be impacted on event days and organisers are doing their utmost to ensure that closures are in place for the shortest period of time possible and that roads are re-opened as soon as it is safe to do so.
Re-opening will start as soon as spectators have dispersed, all equipment is removed, and any street or road facilities that were removed to enable the smooth running of the event, have been reinstated.
George Vincent, Project Management and Design Manager, said, “Glasgow will be open for business throughout the Games, but it won’t be business as usual. The information we are publishing today and our drop-in sessions will help residents and businesses affected by road restrictions for these events to get ready. We’ve already been working closely with residents and businesses across the city about the road restrictions around venues. If you live or work on or close to the routes of these races, you need to look at this latest information and plan ahead. These events will also allow local people to see elite athletes running or cycling past some of the most iconic locations in the city and help showcase Glasgow to a worldwide TV audience.”
The Cycling Road Race course is the same course used for the British Road Race Championships 2013.
