Ironman promises smoother route

A new bike path should ease traffic problems in Clearwater Beach.

By JOSE CARDENAS, Times Staff Writer
Published September 24, 2007

Without question, the main complaint raised about last year's inaugural Ford Ironman 70.3 Triathlon on Clearwater Beach was its impact on traffic throughout mid and North Pinellas.

But Clearwater officials and Ironman organizers hope a revamped bike route for this year's race on Nov. 10 will cause fewer headaches.

The event, which attracted more than 1,300 elite athletes from all over the world, consists a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run.

"Believe it or not, getting a 56-mile route that meets all the criteria of the bike racer for a world event and minimizes impact on traffic is a tough thing to do," said Paul Bertels, Clearwater's traffic operations manager.

Like last year, this year's race will start and end next to Pier 60. In general, the new route is more compact, sticks to wide roads and puts bikers in right-hand lanes.

The biggest change eliminates a 14-mile, single-lane stretch on the Courtney Campbell Parkway into Tampa. Instead, it goes farther north up East Lake Road, turning around at Lansbrook Parkway.

Though it didn't happen last year, an accident on the parkway could have stopped traffic crossing the bay completely, organizers say.

And even with no accidents on the causeway, running the race there caused major backups last year, said Bertels. Both McMullen-Booth Road and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard had to be closed to accommodate bikers.

"By eliminating Courtney Campbell, we eliminated a lot of problems," Bertels said.

The rest of the route sticks to wide roads such as Drew Street.

One road that won't be used this year, for instance, is Alt. U.S. 19, a two-lane road that bikers and cars had to negotiate last year.

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While last year's route was counter-clockwise, this year's route emphasizes right-hand turns, which should ease problems in mid Pinellas.

Racers like right-hand turns better, said Steve Meckfessel, the event's director. By having more right-hand turns, Meckfessel said there will be fewer "moving parts" at intersections.

Right-hand turns, for example, will force slower bikers to stay on the right side of roads.

This will leave more room for cars to drive on the left. Police officers will not have to stop traffic as much to allow bikers to turn left.

And keeping bikers on the right will be especially helpful in Pinellas Park and Largo, said Bertels.

Last year, bikers used a lane in the middle of Belcher Road as they headed south. Consequently, officers had to completely close main thoroughfares such as Ulmerton Road and Park Boulevard when the bikers came through.

But with bikers sticking to the right-hand lane this year, closing entire intersections in Largo and Pinellas Park won't be necessary.

Bikers also will get to Largo and Pinellas later in the day this year, Bertels said. Last year, the main roads were being closed during the Saturday morning rush hour.

A more compact route also should get bikers back to Clearwater sooner, Mayor Frank Hibbard said.

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Last year's race brought 13,000 visitors to Pinellas and had an estimated economic impact of $3.5-million.

This year, officials and organizers say, it will be bigger.

So along with changing the route, Hibbard said the city will publicize the event more on television, the newspaper and its Web site.

The race appeared to catch many people off-guard last year. But the secret to getting around it, Hibbard said, was getting to U.S. 19 to travel north and south uninterrupted, then taking other roads east and west.

That will be the case this year as well, Bertels said.

"This route maximizes the use of U.S. 19," he said. U.S. 19 "will be wide open."

First-to-second year changes have been the norm at other Ironman races around the world, organizers said.

"We want everyone to know that we are guests in this community," said Meckfessel, who lives in Land O'Lakes. "We are always looking to strike a balance between providing a competitive race course while reducing the impact of traffic inconveniences."

[Last modified September 24, 2007, 07:13:28]