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7-Hour Ironman Race To Challenge Clearwater Drivers

TBO.com

Published: November 6, 2008

CLEARWATER - The Foster Grant Ironman World Championship on Saturday will be a test not only for the athletes, but also for local drivers.

The 7 1/2-hour swimming-biking-running event begins and ends at Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach, but will make driving difficult at several locations as the races run through city streets.

Starting at 7 a.m., about 1,800 athletes will go from the beach east to Belcher Road, south to 82nd Avenue in Pinellas Park, east to 49th Street, north along 49th, McMullen-Booth Road and East Lake Road, then back west along Drew Street to the beach.

The city of Clearwater suggests motorists avoid these five intersections, which will be blocked for certain periods:

Coronado Drive at the Clearwater Beach Roundabout, 3 a.m.-5 p.m.

Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Court Street, 7 a.m.-1 p.m.

Belcher Road and Drew Street, 7:15 a.m.-10 a.m.

McMullen-Booth Road and Curlew Road, 7:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m.

Belcher Road and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, 9 a.m. to noon

The following main roads are among those that will be closed:

McMullen-Booth Road and State Road 580, 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and McMullen-Booth Road from Curlew Road to Tampa Road, 7 to 11 a.m. northbound

The Bayside Bridge south, from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Bryan Dairy Road and 66th Street, 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

South Fort Harrison Avenue, from Chestnut Street to Jeffords Street, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Druid Road South, from Jeffords Street to Orange Avenue, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.