Grand Depart road closures revealed
The first road closure details for the historic two days when the Tour de France begins in Yorkshire this summer have been released today.
Initial information related to roads on the route or directly connected to the route of the Grand Départ has been announced as the next phase of the preparations for the world’s largest annual sporting event which comes to the county on July 5-6.
The information follows on from the release of the stage one and two race timings last week and is designed to help residents, businesses and visitors begin to plan well in advance of the Tour’s arrival.
The roads are expected to be closed for a minimum of eight hours, with most anticipated to be closed from early morning.
Such a length of time is necessary to install and remove the facilities needed to enable people to enjoy the event safely, as well as to accommodate the Tour’s unique promotional ‘caravan’ of vehicles which entertains spectators before the riders arrive.
Stage start and finish locations are expected to be closed for longer to allow for the additional Tour infrastructure to be put in place and removed afterwards.
The first stage on Saturday 5 July begins in Leeds and passes through Otley, Ilkley, Skipton, Hawes, Reeth, Masham and Ripon before the finish in Harrogate.
Stage two on Sunday 6 July starts in York before passing Knaresborough, Harrogate, Silsden, Keighley, Haworth, Hebden Bridge, Huddersfield and Holmfirth with the finish in Sheffield.
The opening stages of the 2014 Tour de France in England are expected to attract several million spectators to watch the race, bringing in more than £100million to the economy while also being seen by a television audience in the billions across the world.North Yorkshire County Council, which has more than half of the first two stages on its roads, is the first local authority today to release details of which roads will be directly impacted.
The other authorities the route passes through will release their own information in the coming weeks as local traffic management schemes are finalised, which will be able to be seen at [www.letouryorkshire.com/
roadclosures](http://www.letouryorkshire.com/roadclosures).More precise timings for closures will be provided as detailed traffic management plans are refined taking into account factors such as the race timings, dedicated spectator ‘hubs’ and expected spectator numbers along the route.All residents and businesses directly impacted by the route will receive further details from their local authority.