Baltimore Marathon to bring road closings
Sun photo/Kenneth K. Lam
The Baltimore Marathon is in many ways a great civic event, but each year it brings a day of disruption to the city's roads and transit systems. It's just one of the things you deal with when you live in a big city, but feel free to gripe. Keep in mind, however, that many of the estimated 22,000 participants come from out of town, and they tend to bring their money with them.
Anyway, the city Department of Transportation has released its list of street closings for the race Saturday, which starts at 8 a.m. It's a long one, and you can check it by clicking below.
Baltimore Marathon to be held this Saturday
The Baltimore City Department of Transportation would like to advise motorists of the temporary parking restrictions and road closures that will be in effect for the 10th annual Baltimore Marathon, which will be held on Saturday, October 16, 2010 starting at 8:00 a.m. The 26.2 mile course will begin at Russell and Camden Streets. In conjunction with the marathon, the Carefirst/Blue Cross/Blue Shield Half-Marathon will also be held, along with the United Way 5K Run, the Legg Mason Team Relay and the T. Rowe Price Kids Fun Run. Approximately 22,000 people are expected to participate in this year’s events.
In preparation for the marathon, various parking restrictions and road closures will be implemented. Motorists should pay close attention to posted parking restrictions, as vehicles parked in violation will be ticketed and towed. Citizens with questions concerning the location of their vehicles should call 311.
The following parking restrictions will be implemented on Saturday, October 16, 2010:
∙ Linwood Avenue from Eastern Avenue to Fayette Street 12:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
∙ Eastern Avenue (north side) from Linwood to Patterson Park Avenues 12:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
∙ Boston Street (north side) from Aliceanna Street to Lakewood Avenue 2:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
∙ Lancaster Street from President Street to Central Avenue 4:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
∙ 33rd Street from Hillen Road to Guilford Avenue 4:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
∙ Eutaw Street (west side) from Madison to Monument Streets 4:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
∙ Howard Street (west side) from 23rd to 28th Streets 4:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
∙ Wyman Park Drive from Remington Avenue to Art Museum Drive 5:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
∙ Camden Street from Russell to Howard Streets 6:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
∙ Fort Avenue from Lawrence to Hull Streets 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
∙ St. Paul Street (upper level) from Franklin to Saratoga Streets 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
∙ William Street (east side) from Warren Street to Key Highway 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
∙ Fort Avenue (south side) from Lawrence to Hull Streets 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
∙ Cuba Street from Towson to Hull Street 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
The following streets will be closed to through traffic on Saturday, October 16, 2010:
∙ Russell Street from Hamburg to Pratt Street 5:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
∙ Eutaw Street from Madison to Monument Streets 6:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
∙ Eutaw Street from Pratt to Camden Streets 7:00 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.
∙ Camden Street from Russell to Howard Streets 7:00 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.
∙ Light Street from Lombard Street to Key Highway 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
∙ Key Highway from Cross to Light Streets 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
∙ Central Avenue from Gough to Bank Streets 11:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
∙ Pratt Street from Calvert to Exeter Streets 12:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
∙ Exeter Street from Pratt to Bank Streets 12:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
∙ Bank Street from Exeter Street to Central Avenue 12:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
The following streets will be impacted by the marathon on Saturday, October 16, 2010:
∙ Paca Street from Pratt to Lombard Streets 5:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
∙ Paca Street from Lombard to McCulloh Streets 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
∙ McCulloh Street from Paca Street to Greenspring Avenue 7:10 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.
∙ Greenspring Avenue from Beechwood Drive to Wyman Park Drive (in Druid Hill Park) 7:15 a.m. - 9:50 a.m.
∙ Wyman Park Drive from Remington Avenue to W. 28th Street 7:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
∙ W. 28th Street from Howard to St. Paul Streets 7:35 a.m. - 10:05 a.m.
∙ St. Paul Street from 28th to Light Streets 7:35 a.m. - 10:35 a.m.
∙ Key Highway from Light Street to Lawrence Street and Lawrence Street from Key Highway to Fort Avenue 7:35
a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
∙ Fort Avenue from Lawrence Street to Hull Street and Hull Street from Lawrence Street to the Key Highway Extension 7:50 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
∙ Key Highway from Hull Street to Lawrence Street to Light Street 8:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
∙ Light Street to Pratt Street to President Street to Lancaster Street 8:05 a.m. to 12:00 noon
∙ Aliceanna Street from President to Boston Streets 8:10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
∙ Boston Street to Lakewood Avenue to O’Donnell St. to Linwood Avenue 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
∙ Linwood Avenue from O’Donnell Street to Madison Street 8:20 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
∙ Madison Street from Linwood Avenue to Washington Street to St. Lo
Drive 8:25 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
∙ Harford Road from St. Lo Drive to Hillen Road 8:35 a.m. to 1:35 p.m.
∙ Hillen Road from Harford Road to 33rd Street 8:35 a.m. to 1:35 p.m.
∙ Lake Montebello to 33rd Street to Guilford Avenue 8:40 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
∙ Guilford Avenue from 28th to Howard Streets 8:50 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
∙ Howard Street from 28th Street to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard 8:55 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
∙ Eutaw St. to finish at M&T Bank Stadium 9:05 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.
Please note that traffic along Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. will remain open in both directions during the marathon.
Comments
The list is wrong towards the bottom with reference to Guilford and 28th.
It should say, Guilford closed, from 33rd to 29th. (28th is closed as well, but that is for an earlier part of the race).
Then, it should say 29th closed from Guilford to Howard.
(map: http://www.thebaltimoremarathon.com/Assets/09+Balt+Merged+Map.pdf)
Posted by: nh | October 12, 2010 4:50 PM
Why do they always hold this race in the street? Why don't the runners just circle around Druid Hill or Patterson Park a few times? That way they wouldn't need to reroute traffic and do all the road closings. This is a serious question.
Posted by: pk | October 12, 2010 9:18 PM
That's a long list of road closures, Mike. Any advice on how to actually get to the race from the north? I'm running the 5K and used to come from the south, which was easy.
COMMENT: The release indicates the races start at Camden and Russell Streets. I would guess the best way to get there is to drive to the nearest light rail station wiith parking and take a train to the Convention Center Station.
Posted by: Stephanie | October 13, 2010 10:19 AM
PK - just a few obvious reasons that come to mind, and I don't even know much about marathons.
1) 20-some thousand participants, not to mention the people operating the event and spectators. Neither of your suggestions could handle that kind of crowds/parking/staging area requirements.
2) Its an event that people come to from out of town, making it a PITA for non-locals to find/travel to the locations you suggested (no or few hotels in those areas, either).
3) A marathon involves running 26.4 miles. And not in "laps", as would be required to do 26.4 miles by running around Patterson park 6-7 times. (Plus, with 20-some thousand runners, that would be a crowded nightmare.) All major cities that host marathons close streets, including NYC, DC, Boston, etc. If Baltimore wanted to host a half-***ed marathon that no one would want to participate in, then they might follow your suggestions.
Posted by: AG | October 13, 2010 11:29 AM
13 trips around Patterson Park. Sounds like a great marathon!
Posted by: Dumb Ideas | October 13, 2010 1:39 PM
Why do these events have to be held on Saturdays? For many of us it's the main errand/shopping day and a major inconvenience that it would seem to me could be avoided by holding them on Sundays. When the Ravens/Orioles are out of town, of course.
COMMENT: It's probably a lot easier to come up with a route that avoid synagogues on a Saturday than churches on a Sunday.
Posted by: Jim Keat | October 14, 2010 2:25 PM
Great...I have class at University of Maryland Baltimore and park in the University of Maryland garage on Saturday mornings. I hope that area is still open. Surely there has to be a route to get to the hospital. They can't shut that down for a marathon.
COMMENT: There's a list of closings posted on the blog, but even the open streets are llikely to see a traffic iimpact. Depending on where you're coming from, it would be a good day to try light rail (University Center), Metro (Lexington Market) or even one of the local bus routes coming in from the west side. This is one of those days public transit is made for.
Posted by: Ron | October 15, 2010 12:52 AM