CHARLESTON, W.Va. –The USA Cycling championships in Charleston are nearing their conclusion, and road races beginning Friday will bring additional road closures throughout the city.
“Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Kanawha Boulevard will be closed from Clendenin to Wertz Avenue, Clendenin Street to Wertz Avenue the Kanawha Boulevard will be shut down, the Southside bridge is shut down to motorists, you have to use Ferry Street for the Southside bridge exit, but the Southside bridge will be shut down,” Charleston Mayor’s Office Chief of Staff Matt Sutton said on 580 Live with Dave Allen Thursday morning.
Junior women and men will take to the streets first on Friday, followed by Under-23 women and men on Saturday and elite cyclists on Sunday.
Sutton said most traffic impacts will be limited to rolling stops and brief delays.
“That just means you might have to wait a minute for the bike traffic to get pass in order for it to be safe for you to go through, you’ll either have a volunteer or police officer that will let you through,” he said.
These closures will be more extensive than those during Wednesday’s and Thursday’s criterium races because the road race course covers a larger area than the criterium and time trial courses.
Sutton said one road will be fully closed during the road races each day.
“You cannot get off of Oakridge onto Greenbrier Street, and the reason for that is the bikes come down too fast and we can’t time it perfectly, so if you try to get from Oakridge to Greenbrier Street you’re going to get stuck, you can’t get there,” he said.
However, he said delays for motorists are expected to be minimal.
“Friday, Saturday, Sunday, hard closures are at a minimum, really the boulevard to Clendenin to Wertz and then the Southside Bridge, other than that you’re going to see soft closures and really that is just about it might take you a few extra minutes to get through,” Sutton said.
This is the third year Charleston has hosted the event, which is scheduled to remain in the city through 2028 and serve as a qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Team that year.
USA Cycling Director Kyle Knott, speaking on MetroNews Midday on Thursday, said the city and the Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau have treated USA Cycling very well.
“There fantastic they’ve been great partners since when they first put the bid in for the event back in 2024,” Knott said. “We enjoy our time, you know everybody here in the city, is always asking how are you liking West Virginia, how are you liking Charleston, everybody is like it’s great, racers have come up and told us there so welcoming here, they want us back every year, and for a cyclist sometimes you don’t want to necessarily be on the road because people are like get out of here but this town is fantastic.”
Charleston businesses have embraced the USA Cycling championships with specialty menu items, including Criterium Crunch ice cream and French- and Belgian-inspired offerings at Fife Street Brewing.
Knott said he enjoys seeing cities like Charleston embrace the culture surrounding the event.
“You have all those little things that make it memorable,” he said. “You know when you’re a cyclist you’re racing all over the country, some of these riders are all over the world and you remember the towns and the cities that you go to that make you feel welcome, it almost feels surreal when you go to a town and it’s a big race and someone’s honking out of a big truck, and they’re like I can’t wait to see you race tonight.”
For road maps and closures visit charlestonwv.com.