RICHMOND, Va (WRIC) – The UCI Road World Championship road closures created a traffic nightmare for many in RVA Friday night.
“Very hectic, very tough, navigating and following detour signs,” said Jimmy Brown.
Jimmy and Keneka Brown got stuck by VCU Medical Center.
“We’re here visiting our mom because she got surgery,” said Keneka Brown.
“I was coming from Chesapeake, when i got here I was trying to go to West Broad. And it took us 45 minutes to get from MCV down to West Broad.”
They weren’t alone. 8News got a handful of calls from drivers all over downtown. Many at a standstill—for almost an hour.
“Trying to get back to Church Hill to get back to my house, couldn’t do it. Finally gave up,” said Ramzi Hossaini.
Richmond 2015 officials say they knew Friday night would cause the worst traffic headaches for drivers. After the afternoon race, roads re-opened for only an hour before “Conquer the Cobbles” began. The 10-mile course open to the public kept the streets off limits past 9 p.m.
“I thought Washington DC was bad, this was bad. But I enjoyed the bike race, and I’ll come back next year for the bike race, but this time, I’d rather just ride with someone instead of me driving,” said Keneka Brown.
Race officials say things should be running smoothly again this weekend.
