Bike tour leads to mid-Missouri road closures

COLUMBIA — Temporary rolling road closures will occur Friday and Saturday as cyclists compete in stages 4 and 5 of the Tour of Missouri road race through mid-Missouri.

Roads in Columbia where Stage 4 finishes will be closed most of Friday. Stage 4 starts in Lebanon on Friday morning and passes through Montreal, Brumley, Ulman, Tuscumbia, Eugene, Jefferson City, Holts Summit, New Bloomfield and Guthrie on its way to the finish line in downtown Columbia.

According to information from the Missouri Department of Transportation, state, city and county roadways will be used for the race, and motorists should expect delays.

Eastbound lanes of the Route 54 Missouri River Bridge leaving Jefferson City will be closed both Friday and Saturday for short periods of time.

According to tourofmissouri.com, the section of downtown Columbia where the cyclists finish Stage 4 will be closed to all but pedestrian traffic from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.

This section includes Eighth Street from Broadway to Walnut Street, Walnut Street from Ninth to Seventh streets, Ash Street from Ninth to Seventh streets, and Eighth Street from Ash Street to Park Avenue.

Matt Myers, the district traffic engineer, explained that rolling road closures are directed by Highway Patrol cars.

Officials will close roads when they see the lead patrol car on a given section of a road. When the patrol car trailing the cyclists passes, the road will be reopened.

Motorists should expect a road to be closed for about 20 to 25 minutes after the scheduled times of arrival, Myers said.

Satellite parking will be available at the old Osco Drug parking lot at Providence and Broadway as well as the old Wal-Mart parking lot at Providence and Nifong to compensate for the limited parking in the downtown district.

Shuttle buses will run from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The buses will drop off passengers on Sixth and Walnut streets and pick up every 15 minutes.

According to the Transportation Department, Stage 4 starts at the Cowen Civic Center in Lebanon at 10:30 a.m. and ends on Eighth Street in Columbia between 3:15 and 4:30 p.m.

Stage 5 begins at the State Capitol in Jefferson City and ends on Riverside Drive in St. Charles between 4 and 5:30 p.m.

Stage 5 will pass through Portland, Rhineland, Hermann and neighboring communities.