Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 11, 1991 TAG: 9104110470
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Maybe you want to try them all?
If you're looking for something to do on Memorial Day in Roanoke, you'll have plenty of choices.
But be prepared for traffic congestion. And blocked streets.
City officials and police must juggle half a dozen events that will bring thousands of people to Roanoke for what promises to be a hectic scheduling day. Laban Johnson, city special events coordinator, already has started worrying about how everything will fit together.
"There is going to be increased traffic congestion," said George Snead, city director of administration and safety. "We won't be able to eliminate it, but we can reduce it with proper planning.
"Obviously, it's going to require a lot of planning to coordinate it all."
The Memorial Day calendar will include:
Festival-in-the-Park activities in Elmwood Park during the first weekend of the city's biggest downtown festival.
Bicycle races through downtown streets.
A ceremony at the War Memorial in Lee Plaza to honor veterans and the war dead.
A parade to honor the troops in the Persian Gulf War.
Stock-car races in Victory Stadium.
A concert at night, site to be determined depending on what's available.
The Crestar Festival Soccer Festival Tournament also will be held Memorial Day weekend, but it will be finished by Monday, when the other events are scheduled.
The schedule was tight even before City Council's decision to allow car races in the stadium. Now, that will complicate the planning and coordination.
The stadium races will require a change in the parade honoring the Persian Gulf veterans that will be sponsored by the four Roanoke Valley governments. The parade will follow a 1.7-mile course from the Roanoke Civic Center to the stadium.
The plan had called for the bands, floats and other units to circle the stadium track so veterans and others who didn't want to stand along the route could see them from the grandstand. The parade was to have dispersed in the stadium parking lot.
Because of the races, the parade will disperse at Reserve Avenue and Jefferson Street and won't go into the stadium. Buses for bands and other marchers will be parked along Reserve Avenue.
"It's going to make it more difficult for us, but it's not the end of the world," Johnson said. "Obviously it would have been nicer [if the stadium parking lot had been available], but we'll do what we need to do," he said.
When the parade was planned, Johnson said, officials did not know there would be racing at the stadium.
The parade will be in the afternoon, so it won't conflict with the traditional Memorial Day ceremony in the morning at the War Memorial. As the parade passes through downtown, it will go along Williamson Road and Elm Avenue to avoid interfering with the bicycle races that will be part of Festival in the Park, Johnson said.
The parade will begin at the civic center at 1 p.m. and last about two hours. It will be finished before the car races begin, but there could be congestion near the stadium if race fans arrive early.
The races will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. under the terms of promoter Whitey Taylor's agreement with the city. But the stadium and parking lot will be opened at 1 p.m. for qualifying and practice laps.
City officials are concerned about parking problems and congestion near the stadium. Taylor must submit a parking and shuttle transportation plan 30 days before Memorial Day. He intends to use Valley Metro buses to get spectators from downtown and other areas.
Before council agreed to allow the races, officials planned to hold a concert in the stadium after the parade. But the site is uncertain now, Johnson said. If the races are not held, the concert could still be held in the stadium.
by CNB