Springfield motorists traveling across town Saturday morning, April 4 should be aware of likely traffic delays between 7:30 am and 11 am. About 2,000 participants from more than 30 states will be on Springfield roads that morning running along a 13.1 mile route that starts and finishes downtown, goes past Lincoln sites and through the Washington and Lincoln Park neighborhoods.
The course can be viewed on an interactive map at http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=538358.
Motorists wishing to avoid those intersections where runners will be crossing should use the following roads outside the course:
- Traveling north-south on the west side, Chatham Road/Bruns Lane and roads to the west
- Traveling east-west on the north side, Sangamon Avenue (access Sangamon from the west via Veteran’s and Browning) and roads to the north
- Traveling north-south on the east side, 9th Street and roads to the east
- Traveling east-west on the south side, South Grand Avenue east of MacArthur, and roads to the south
The intersections that are expected to experience the longest delays include the following:
- Madison and Jefferson at both Lincoln and 5th Street
- Lawrence, Monroe and Washington at Lincoln
- Walnut and MacArthur near Washington Park
- North Grand at both Rutledge and 3rd Street
Residential roads around Washington and Lincoln Parks will have larger concentrations of runners. Several downtown streets will be closed beginning at 6 a.m. on Saturday, including 5th at Jefferson, 6th Street from Cook Street north to Madison Street, Washington at 4th, and Capitol from Eighth Street to Second Street. Roads will reopen just after 11am.
SMTD bus stops will be affected overnight on Washington and Saturday morning on Capitol.
The Springfield Road Runners Club organizes the race and the Prairie Heart Institute at St. John’s Hospital is the presenting sponsor. The official charity is Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach.
