USA Pro Cycling Challenge - Queen Stage
On Saturday August 24, 2013, Stage 6 of the third annual USA Pro Challenge (USAPC) will be rolling through Northern Colorado. It's an internationally televised professional cycling race featuring some of the world's best riders.... Basically, it's a pretty big deal and a we'll be seeing a lot of road closures in Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor and Estes Park both on Saturday and the Friday preceding the event.

Read on to see when and where to expect closures during the race.


Friday Night (August 23rd, 2013) Closures:

  • Portions of Mountain Avenue and nearby surrounding streets in Old Town will be closed for start of Set-up of the Finish Line. Please visit the NoCoCycling website for detailed closures and times.
  • Horsetooth Reservoir Dams: Road 23 will be closed to vehicle traffic from 42C across Horsetooth Dams to Road 48C. The closure will start at dusk on Friday night (9 or 10 p.m.).

Race Day Closures (August 24th, 2013):

The Ranch Events Complex/ Eastern Loveland/ Windsor:

  • Approximately at 11 a.m. CR 5 (Fairgrounds Ave) at Crossroads Blvd. will be closed Northbound.
  • At approximately 11 a.m. Hwy 392 will be closed to right turns onto CR 5 (Fairgrounds) , 15 minutes later at 11:15 there will be a full closure of 392- from CR 5 east to South Hwy 257 until the Peloton has passed.
  • These closures could impact the off ramps of I-25 and result in brief closures of the ramps of Hwy 34, Hwy 392 and/ or Crossroads Blvd.

Loveland:

  • Southbound Cleveland (Hwy 287) will be closed from 6th Street to 1st Street as part of the enclosure for the Corn Roast Festival Parade at 9:00 a.m. and will remain closed through the bike race passing through (approximately 12:30 p.m.)

Big Thompson Canyon/Glen Haven/Devil’s Gulch:

  • At approximately Noon- Hwy 34 will be closed in both directions at Mall Rd in Estes Park and at CR 29 (Access to the Canyon). Local Residents may haveaccess by driver’s license identification until the race approaches.
  • Starting at 8 a.m. CR 43 will have limited access at Drake all the way through Glen Haven to Wonderview Dr. This will become a full closure to vehicles at any point in time if deemed necessary by law enforcement. Local residents will have access.

Estes Park:

  • Wonderview Avenue from MacGregor Avenue to U.S. 34/36 intersection; Elkhorn Avenue to Moraine Avenue; Moraine Avenue to Marys Lake Road; Highway 7 to North Saint Vrain Avenue/U.S. 36, U.S. 34/36 downtown to Big Thompson Avenue/U.S. 34 east through the Big Thompson Canyon.
  • To accommodate special events and the race, Elkhorn Avenue from U.S. 34/36 to Moraine Avenue and Moraine Avenue from Elkhorn Avenue to Crags Drive will be closed approximately 9 a.m. until pedestrians have cleared mid- to late-afternoon.
  • The entire race route from MacGregor Avenue at Evergreen Lane through the rest of the route to U.S. 34 at Mall Road will be closed at approximately 12:30 p.m. to clear streets for the race. It will reopen sequentially as the race passes, with the exception of downtown, as noted above.

Fort Collins:

  • College Ave will be closed from Mulberry to LaPorte at 11:30 a.m.
  • At approximately 2:45 p.m. Overland Trail will be closed from LaPorte Street to Mulberry. (Dependent on race status)
  • At approximately 2:45 p.m. Mulberry Ave will b e closed at Overland Trail to College Ave. (Dependent on race status)

You can get a visual of where all these closures will happen when you look at the actual race route in the map below.

You can get more details on parking and where you can spectate from at the NoCoCycling website as well as a full schedule of events.

After all that reading, this is what I get out of it: If you're not spectating and wanting to watch the cyclists, don't plan on driving anywhere near the USA Pro Challenge.

Thankfully now you should have a little bit of a heads-up and can start planning on not driving or thinking up some different routes to take during the closures.

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The Race will operate in a “rolling enclosure.” This is a proven and common strategy for operating road closures for professional bike races. The race will be escorted by a caravan lead and followed by Colorado State Patrol Officers whose arrival at an intersection will, in most locations, signal the beginning and end of the enclosure. Depending on the location on the route, this rolling enclosure will last anywhere from a half hour to 90 minutes. In some locations however, it will be necessary to extend road closures prior to or after the rolling enclosure to safely manage traffic. In this case, the longest projected closures are not expected to exceed 3 hours.

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