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The inaugural NASCAR Chicago Street Race will have residents navigating street closures and parking restrictions around Grant Park for more than a month this summer.
The traffic closures will begin with parking restrictions in part of the park June 2, according to a traffic plan made public by the city Monday. Over the following weeks, traffic lanes and entire streets will close around the park, including along DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue, until all roads reopen by July 15.
The closures will begin as the city sets up grandstands, fences and hospitality suites for the race and entertainment event over July 4 weekend. The 12-turn, 2.2-mile racecourse will have drivers starting in front of Buckingham Fountain and navigating closed off stretches of DuSable Lake Shore Drive and South Michigan Avenue. The event, which will run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day, will also include full-length concerts, headlined by Miranda Lambert, the Chainsmokers and the Black Crowes.
City officials said access will remain open to the Museum Campus, Buckingham Fountain, the Lakefront Trail and nearby homes and businesses during setup and the event. They are promoting use of alternate streets through downtown, and said pedestrians will continue to be able to reach the fountain, travel through a Grant Park underpass and along the Lakefront Trail.
The first restrictions will be parking along Columbus Drive between Jackson and Balbo drives beginning June 2. Roads through the park will begin closing over the following weeks, and CTA buses that travel along Columbus Drive will be rerouted beginning June 20.
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Lanes of traffic outside the park, including on Michigan Avenue, Roosevelt Road and DuSable Lake Shore Drive, will begin closing June 26, then stretches of those roads will close entirely in the following days.
During the event, on July 1 and 2, DuSable Lake Shore Drive will be closed from Grant and Millenium parks south to Soldier Field. South Michigan Avenue will close south of the Art Institute and Roosevelt Road will also close along the edges of the park, and most of the roads through the park will remain closed.
City officials encouraged travelers to take alternate roads that bypass the park, and for through traffic to take Lower Wacker Drive to bypass the Loop.
The closures include streets and the sidewalk in front of Buckingham Fountain, but the corners of the fountain site will remain open to provide access, city officials said. There will be free activities related to the NASCAR event on Butler Field in the park, accessible without a ticket to the event.
Roads will begin reopening as soon as the event finishes on the evening of July 2. By 7 a.m. July 3, parts of northbound DuSable Lake Shore Drive and southbound Michigan Avenue are expected to reopen. But city officials estimate it will take nearly two weeks longer until all roads, sidewalks and parking in and around the park are fully reopened.
The two-day event is expected to draw 50,000 people per day to the city’s downtown park. Monday, a NASCAR representative said tickets had been purchased in 48 states and 12 countries.
Two-day general admission tickets, which include the races and the concerts, started at $269. In November, NASCAR began selling two-day reserved tickets starting at $465. Premium club seats run a lot higher. At the top of the list are temporary hospitality suites perched above the pit road, where tickets for the President’s Paddock Club cost more than $3,000 each.
This summer marks the first of a three-year deal NASCAR struck to transform the Grant Park environs into a temporary racecourse, paying the Chicago Park District an escalating permit fee and a share of admission and concession sales.
“The City of Chicago has been working with NASCAR in the planning and execution of the race to minimize disruptions to residents and visitors while making it a safe event for everyone,” said Rich Guidice, executive director of the city’s office of emergency management and communications, in a statement. “Safety is our top priority, and we will help monitor all race activity leading up to the event, through the race weekend and following the event to help coordinate city resources and expectations.”
