Saturday 21 September 2013

Road Closures

The Tour of Britain aims to minimise disruption to residents and businesses along the route and to allow access to towns and vantage points across the route for spectators.

The vast majority of the race route is delivered under a temporary rolling road closure, enforced by police and the National Escort Group (the same group who worked on the Olympic road races in Surrey) – 62 motorbikes in all – who initiate and maintain the road closures as the race approaches. These motorbikes close the roads in front of the race, allowing it to pass through without interference from non-race traffic. Once the cyclists have all left an area, the roads will open again. In practice roads may be closed between 10 minutes and half an hour, depending on the terrain, weather and race location. Closed roads will not open until the final vehicle in the convoy (known as the `broom wagon´) has passed.

There are requirements for longer road closures in Guildford town centre for the safety of crowds and cyclists, and to allow for the finish infrastructure (300 tonnes of equipment is moved from one stage to the next during each day of The Tour) to be removed.

Full details of these road closures and any others required will be published here in July.