Big Bear Valley, CA — So, here’s the lowdown on Big Bear roads as it relates to the Amgen Tour of California on Friday afternoon, May 21. Road closures are not all day, but temporary, rolling closures, that will begin about 20 minutes before the lead cyclist approaches and will re-open about five minutes after the final rider, making for total closure time of roughly one hour. Depending on the pace of the cyclists coming from Palmdale, it is anticipated that the first of the pack will reach the dam at the western end of Big Bear Lake around 2pm, which will make for a closure along the North Shore portion of Highway 38, from the dam to Stanfield Cutoff, likely in the 2 o’clock hour, perhaps into 3pm. Stanfield Cutoff will be closed to vehicles when cyclists cross from the North Shore to Big Bear Boulevard, which could happen anywhere between 2:30 and 4:30pm but, again, probably only for an hour within that window of time. Along the portion of Big Bear Boulevard, from Stanfield to Sandalwood (the street behind Vons), two lanes will be open to vehicle traffic. Sandalwood Drive will be closed, and from that back street, cyclists will make a right onto Fox Farm, and then travel past the hospital on Garstin Drive. These roads, too, will be closed for about an hour. From Garstin, the cyclists will make their uphill sprint to the finish along Summit Boulevard to Snow Summit. The key thing for motorists to note is that you will either have to be on one side of Summit Boulevard or the other, as this portion of Big Bear Boulevard will be unpassable toward the end of the race, which is anticipated to be in the 3 o’clock hour. So, just to recap, the road closures will be about an hour, with the exception of the full day closure of Summit Boulevard south of Big Bear Boulevard, and we can expect the cyclists to travel the stretch between the dam and Snow Summit anywhere between 2pm and 4:45pm. For more details and information, including activities surround The Big Bear Climb, click here to visit KBHR’s Spectators’ Guide to Enjoying the Amgen Tour in Big Bear. And thanks for tuning in to 93.3 FM!
