The weekend of the Tour de Yorkshire in Calderdale will soon be upon us, and travel and parking plans are being finalised across the borough.
Visitors and residents are being reminded to plan where they want to watch the race and how to get there, before the race comes through Calderdale on Sunday 3 May.
The peloton is expected to reach Calderdale around 2.05pm, racing down Cragg Vale at around 2.35pm and then onto Hebden Bridge King of the Mountain stage, up through Nutclough and Pecket Well before exiting the borough at around 2.50pm.
Unlike last year’s Tour de France, when roads were totally closed for several hours, the Tour de Yorkshire has a rolling closure. This means that police motorcycles ride ahead to close off junctions and stop oncoming traffic. The roads close around 30 minutes before the cyclists are due to pass and open up almost immediately behind them but this may be longer in areas where there are large crowds, so spectators please take care.
Roads will be busy on race weekend, so allow plenty of time to get to your viewing spot. There are a number of Council car parks close to the route, but please note that St George’s Square Car park in Hebden Bridge will be closed on race day, as a market is taking place there. There will be a clearway order along the route and all residents who have received a letter will be required to move their vehicle from the route.
For further information and advice to help you plan your day, Calderdale Council has produced a handy spectator guide called The Little Pocket Tour de Yorkshire Guide. This colourful, pocket sized fold out guide, gives you all the information you need to plan ahead and make sure you get the best experience possible.
It also includes a handy map of the area, including the Tour de Yorkshire route, rail and road links, plus larger car parks. The guide is available in Tourist Information Centres (TICs) in Halifax and Hebden Bridge.
On race day, don’t forget to follow @innercyclist on twitter, as we will be tweeting live, giving up to the minute information – @mention us in any of your photos of the day, and we’ll retweet the best ones.
To really get into the spirit, why not get ready with one of our limited edition Inner Cyclist Tour de Yorkshire t-shirts? The t-shirts are available from Halifax and Hebden Bridge TICs plus the Council sports centres and cost £8.50. Plus by keeping an eye on @innercyclist you can also win a t-shirt by following and re-tweeting the competition tweets.
Calderdale Council’s Director of Communities, Robin Tuddenham, said:
“The Tour de Yorkshire cycles into Calderdale on Sunday 3 May and we’re expecting lots of visitors and spectators. To make sure that everyone has a brilliant day, we’re advising people to plan ahead with their travel arrangements and decide where they would like to watch the race.
“We’ve produced a handy guide to help out, which will be useful both before the event and on the big day, plus there’s plenty information at www.visitcalderdale.com(external link). We hope everyone has a fantastic day and enjoys what looks set to be another spectacular event.”