Parade, road race lead to street closures

The Eugene Celebration parade and the Eugene Women?s Half Marathon will converge on downtown this weekend, and drivers are urged to plan accordingly.

Saturday?s parade, which had 77 entries as of Wednesday afternoon, will be staged at 7:30 a.m. on East Amazon Parkway and East 19th Avenue, though streets won?t be officially closed until 9 a.m.

After a diversion due to construction last year, the parade is returning to its traditional route, heading north on High Street between East 18th and East 11th avenues, then south on Pearl Street back toward its starting point at South Eugene High School. Those streets will be closed until the parade ends at about noon.

The women?s half-marathon, which is organized in conjunction with the Eugene Marathon, will cause only one major closure on Sunday morning: the Sixth Avenue off-ramp from Ferry Street Bridge. The ramp will be closed throughout the 13.1-mile race, which begins at 8 a.m. and is expected to last about four hours.

However, motorists can also expect heavy congestion and some road closures in the area surrounding the start and finish lines, Eugene police spokeswoman Jenna McCulley said.

The half-marathon route begins downtown and heads west via Fifth Avenue to Washington Street, and then to West First Avenue and Madison Street in its first two miles before reaching the Willamette River.

Participants will then cross the river on the Owosso footbridge, run along the Delta Ponds Park by way of Goodpasture Lakes Loop Road, and continue east along the river into Alton Baker Park. Just before the 11-mile mark, runners will cross the river again on the Knickerbocker footbridge for the final 2-mile push along Franklin Boulevard at Onyx Street, then onto Hilyard Street and East Sixth Avenue toward the finish line at Fifth Street Public Market.

According to McCulley, the police department will have 11 of its female officers participating in the race in hopes of encouraging other female runners to consider joining the force. The police department runners will be wearing fuchsia-colored tops, and there also will be a booth at the finish line with more information for anyone interested in becoming an officer, McCulley said.

Eugene police officers, as well as city public works crews and local volunteers, will be on hand throughout the weekend events to help direct traffic.

More information about the Eugene Celebration parade and other celebration events is available at www.eugenecelebration.com.

For more information about the half-marathon course and other race information, go to www.eugenewomenshalf.com.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rgnews/~3/nGn0C4qJ7hU/eugene-parade-street-east-marathon.html.csp

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