BRISTOL, Tenn. – Rock slides, daylight saving time and new traffic signals and speed cameras on U.S. Highway 11E might prove challenging for race weekend motorists later this month, city and race officials said Tuesday.
But Bristol Traffic Engineer David Metzger said he is confident the city’s traditional traffic plans for the Bristol Motor Speedway spring race, March 19-21, will be just as effective this year – with some slight adjustments here and there.
“Overall, our traffic plans will be the same as usual, but with a few tweaks,” Metzger said during a news conference Tuesday.
The Scotts Turf Builder 300 and Food City 500 races will be held March 20 and 21, respectively. During the August races, Bristol saw a record-setting 700,000 vehicles travel in and around the speedway over four days.
That August weekend also was notable, Metzger said, because it was the first race event that Bristol didn’t tow a single vehicle for illegal parking.
During the spring races, Bristol will have signs in place leading motorists to the speedway from several routes off Interstates 81 and 26. But, Metzger said, motorists traveling northbound on I-81 during race weekend, from areas such as Knoxville and Asheville, N.C., should prepare for heavier traffic than usual. That’s because a section of Interstate 40 in North Carolina is still dealing with damage caused by rock slides last year, resulting in more vehicles taking detour routes along I-81.
“I think we can expect many more vehicles in that area, and a lot of it will be non-race-related traffic,” Metzger said.
Two other factors that might affect race flow will be the switch Sunday, March 14, to daylight saving time and a new traffic light on U.S. 11E – installed last year – that now greets motorists heading to Bristol from such cities as Kingsport and Rogersville.
Metzger said daylight time will mean one less hour of sunrise light for early morning travelers. Also, motorists must be prepared to observe traffic signals on a section of U.S. 11E that didn’t have them before. “It’s our first time dealing with that during a race weekend, so we’ll closely monitor it,” Metzger said.
Also during the Tuesday news conference:
n Metzger said Bristol officials hope to meet their usual standard of needing only three hours and 15 minutes, or less, to completely clear traffic from the speedway after spring races.
n BMS spokesman Kevin Triplett admitted that speedway officials are concerned that the controversial speed cameras recently installed on U.S. 11E in Bluff City will snag numerous out-of-town fans and negatively affect their weekend experience.
“It’d be preferable to us if they were turned off for three days,” Triplett said.
n Triplett also said BMS will encourage spectators attending the March 19 Food City Family Race Night activities, which begin at 4 p.m. at the Speedway, to use the Bristol Dragway entrance as the main entering area.
Triplett said that current ticket sales for the March race weekend are “behind where we want to be” – but speedway officials are encouraged by the number of first-time ticket buyers.
“In better economic times, we would have a minimal availability of tickets by now,” Triplett said. “But this year, we’ve certainly had to be more aggressive in marketing [the spring races].”
The speedway has an estimated capacity of 160,000 for race events, Triplett said.
rbrown@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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