Special Events |
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? And it
is, if you know what you’re doing.
Doubling up
Great Britain doesn’t have anything
like the cycling heritage of France or
Belgium, but as both a pastime and
sport cycling has enjoyed a boom
ever since Bradley Wiggins won the
Tour in 2012.
One race that has been
particularly successful is May’s Tour
de Yorkshire, which launched in 2015
after the county hosted the first two
stages of the 2014 Tour de France.
Nearly 2.5 million spectators lined
the route over four days in 2018, and
the success of the race has paved the
way for Yorkshire to host the UCI
World Championships this September.
Bob Brayshaw, operations director
of the Tour de Yorkshire, has found
himself working on both events at
once. “With the Tour, we’re already
planning for next year in June,” he
says. “We know some of the start and
finish locations, and although they’re
not connected yet it does mean we
know where the full road closures
will be. Really, it’s August/September
when we start looking at routes to
connect those points.
“There has to be a sporting element
– so for example climbs – but we also
want locations that will show off
Yorkshire on TV,” he adds. “By October
we have 80% of the route nailed
down. That’s the point where we can
start working with local authorities
and their highway departments.”
Forward planning uses many
types of software, and a key program
is Elgin, the local authority mapping
system. “This allows local authorities
to communicate with each other and
ensures that different authorities
involved in the same stage can see
the whole picture when it comes to
traffic planning: hard closures,
rolling closures, temporary one-way
systems, diversions and potential
black spots,” says Brayshaw.
Yorkshire also uses
ResilienceDirect, an online
private network that enables
civil protection practitioners
to work together – across
geographical and
organizational boundaries – during
the preparation, response and recovery
phases of an event or emergency.
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004
requires that emergency responders
co-operate and share information to
prepare for and respond to
emergencies and ensure that action is
coordinated. ResilienceDirect
supports the adoption of common
working practices and ensures key
information is readily and
consistently available to users.
“When it comes to route planning
we use a variety of packages,” says
Brayshaw. “Firstly there’s Bike
Master, which is a mapping system
specifically for cycle races. It allows
you to place symbols for things like
the wrong side of a roundabout,
where marshals will be stationed and
so on. We’re using that for the World
Championships as well.
“Guru Maps a route-planning app
is brilliant for mapping, plus we use
cycling-specific apps such as Strava
and Bike Hike,” he adds. Guru Maps
features detailed offline vector maps
When it comes to route planning
we use a variety of packages. Firstly
there’s Bike Master, which is a mapping
system specifically for cycle races
Bob Brayshaw, operations director of the Tour de Yorkshire
Traffic Technology International July/August 2019
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
040
2.5 million
The number of on-street
spectators who watched
the UK’s Tour de
Yorkshire in 2018
/www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com