CHARLOTTE – If you’re up early on Sunday, Sept. 1, and you see people running on I-277, you won’t be hallucinating.
More than 4,000 runners are expected to take part in the Around the Crown 10k, a 6.2-mile race on a mix of city streets and a portion of the Interstate 277 inner loop. The race will start promptly at 7:04 a.m.
Officials with the N.C. Department of Transportation and the city of Charlotte supported having this event happen on the morning of a holiday weekend with the least amount of impact to drivers, provided a traffic management plan would be in place to provide the highest level of safety.
Since part of the course is on I-277, the inner loop will be closed to vehicular traffic, but the outer loop will remain open to drivers. Crews will start installing traffic control at 2 a.m., since implementing the safety measures will take up to four hours.
Drivers will not be able to access the inner loop from I-77 North and South, from Independence Boulevard, or from Brookshire Freeway. Smaller interchanges with the inner loop will also be impacted.
Once the last runner exits the loop, the traffic control removal process can start, but will take a few hours, so drivers are advised not to expect to use the inner loop before noon.
NCDOT will also alert drivers to the inner loop closure using overhead message signs on other roads approaching uptown, so decisions to take alternate routes can be made ahead of time.