LA Marathon will bring major street closures Sunday

Less than a week remains before the starting gun fires at the 33rd annual Los Angeles Marathon. The race begins at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 18 and if you plan on driving or riding the bus that day, you’ll want to take a good look at the planned street closures along the route.

The marathon starts at Dodger Stadium and winds its way through Downtown before cutting up past Echo Park Lake and over to Sunset Boulevard. Runners will follow the street up to Hollywood Boulevard and head west, passing the Walk of Fame along the way.

The course then drops down to the Sunset Strip and then down again to Santa Monica Boulevard. After a quick detour in Beverly Hills, it extends north toward the VA Hospital and cuts west on San Vicente. Finally, runners enter the final stretch on Ocean Avenue and finish the race just short of the Santa Monica Pier.

The National Weather Service expects that rain predicted for Friday will clear up by Saturday, meaning racers will keep dry and drivers won’t have to worry about slick streets on top of road closures.

Most of the streets closed for the race will shut down between 4 and 5 a.m., though stretches of Main Street and Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica will be closed to traffic at midnight. Streets will start to reopen between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Aside from the streets that are actually included in the course (which can be found here), a number of nearby thoroughfares will also be temporarily closed at different points throughout the day (those you can find here).

Numerous freeway ramps along the 110, 101, and 405 will also be closed off, though race organizers and transportation officials have released a list of alternate routes if you’re trying to access those areas.

If you’re more of a visual person, the handy map above charts the race route, as well as all the additional street closures nearby.

For a closer look at the planned closures, take a look at these detailed maps released by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

Numerous buses will be affected by the street closures, and many lines that go through the area will be on detour routes for much of the day. Metro has released a list of affected bus lines here.

It’s also worth noting that pedestrians and cyclists won’t be allowed on the course during the marathon—though a pre-race bicycle ride along the route is planned for the wee hours of the morning.

And, if all this is just too confusing, take the train. Rail service shouldn’t be impacted by the marathon—in fact, Metro is adding additional cars to Red Line trains throughout the day and running enhanced Expo Line service between 7 and 9 a.m. That should help riders easily travel to the race’s finish line—and give runners an option for getting home.

• Street Closures [Los Angeles Marathon]
• Go Metro to the LA Marathon this Sunday [The Source]