MANCHESTER, Conn. — If you want to travel around Manchester on Thanksgiving Day, double-check which roads will be closed for the Manchester Road Race (MRR).
The committee announced the road closures Tuesday, along with parking restrictions and other traffic disruptions that will happen during the annual holiday run.
Ahead of the MRR, there will be an on-street parking ban from 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22, through 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 23 on the following streets:
• Linden Street from East Center to Locust Street
• East Center Street from Main Street to Center Street
• Main Street from Center Street to Hartford Road.
Officials said that, if necessary, vehicles will be towed.
Downtown Main Street will be closed to all traffic between Bissell Street and Maple Street at 5 a.m. Thanksgiving morning to allow crews to build fencing and ropes along the roadway. Main Street closures will be extended from East Center Street to Charter Oak Street starting at 5:30 a.m.
All local roads intersecting the race course will be closed at 9 a.m. Vehicles will not be allowed to enter or leave the interior of the road race course from 9 a.m. until the race has ended around 11:30 a.m. A map of the MRR course, which shows the streets affected by the closures, can be viewed here.
Exit ramps on Interstate-384 around the MRR race course will be closed from 8:45 a.m. to about 11:30 a.m. These include westbound exit 3 (Charter Oak St.), westbound exit 4 (Highland St.), eastbound exit 3 (Main Street), and eastbound exit 4 (Wyllys St). No parking is allowed along the shoulders of I-384 as well.
Officials said that regular traffic on the affected Manchester streets should resume at around 11:30 a.m.
“We want to alert everyone, especially the residents who live within the interior of the road race court, about the street closures so they can make their plans for the holiday,” said Dr. Tris Carta, president of the Manchester Road Race Committee. “If you live in that area and need to travel on Thanksgiving morning, please be sure to leave before the roads close to traffic at 9 a.m.”
Carta added that due to the high traffic expected in Manchester on Thanksgiving morning, the race committee will once again offer free shuttle bus rides to and from the event. The buses will run from the Manchester Community College parking lot before the race and return there after the event. More information about the shuttle service, including the operation times, can be viewed here.
The MRR is run on a 4.748 mile-long loop course through the town’s central streets and is expected to attract more than 30,000 spectators and a field of approximately 10,000 runners to Manchester’s downtown area. It will be held at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The race starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St James Church.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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