Long Beach motorists should get ready for some major detours this weekend.
The Long Beach Marathon is set to return for its 38th iteration on Sunday, Oct. 9, featuring thousands of professional and amateur athletes running through the city’s streets — and, for motorists, a temporary inconvenience:
Road closures.
“People traveling through Long Beach should plan to avoid street closures and map out access routes,” the city said in a Thursday, Oct. 6, press release, and should allow extra time for travel due to road closures and traffic delays.”
The marathon is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. Sunday at Shoreline and Shoreline Village drives.
The full 26.2-mile course will see runners head toward the Queen Mary, through Shoreline Village, along the coastline on the flat beach path, and through Belmont Shore toward Marine Stadium. The marathoners will then complete a loop around the Cal State Long Beach campus, then head back toward Ocean Boulevard to the finish line at the intersection of Shoreline Drive and Linden Avenue.
The 20-mile bike tour will also begin at 6 am. and have the same route, but in reverse and without the CSULB loop.
The half-marathon will begin at 7:30 a.m. in the same spot as the full competition. It will follow the full marathon course until runners cross the Queensway Bridge and head to the bow of the Queen Mary; the runners will then circle around the Aquarium of the Pacific and the lighthouse at Rainbow Harbor, and then pass through Shoreline Village for the last few miles before reaching the finish line.
Those running in the full marathon will have 7 1/2 to cross the finish line; the half-marathon competitors will have six hours.
That means many of the streets around the Belmont Shore, the Peninsula, Naples, Belmont Heights, Bluff Park, Bluff Heights, Alamitos Beach, Park Estates and Los Altos neighborhoods will be closed for much of the day.
The street closures will generally last from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., though they will reopen on a rolling basis, according to the city’s press release. Streets will reopen as the final runners cross and any race materials — such as signs — are removed.
The following streets will close at 5 a.m.:
Shoreline Drive, from Shoreline Village to the 710 Freeway.
Pine Avenue, from Shoreline Drive to Seaside Way.
Queensway Bridge, from Shoreline Drive to the 710 Freeway.
Ocean Boulevard, from Livingston Drive to 54th Street.
Livingston Drive, from Termino Avenue to Broadway.
Nieto Avenue, from Appian Way to Broadway.
Appian Way, from Nieto Avenue to East Third Street.
East Third Street, from Appian Way to Paoli Way.
Marine Stadium, from Nieto Avenue to Bayshore Avenue.
East Colorado Street, from Orlena Avenue to Appian Way.
Orlena Avenue, from East Colorado Street to Fourth Street.
Fourth Street, from Monrovia Avenue to Orlena Avenue.
Monrovia Avenue, from Sixth Street to Fourth Street.
Sixth Street, from Park Avenue to Monrovia Avenue.
Park Avenue, from Anaheim Street to Appian Way.
Anaheim Street, from Pacific Coast Highway to Park Avenue.
Clark Avenue, northbound, from Atherton Street to Anaheim Street.
Atherton Street, westbound, from Clark Avenue to Bellflower Boulevard.
Palo Verde Avenue, southbound, from Atherton Street to Anaheim Street.
Atherton Street, from Bellflower Boulevard to Palo Verde Avenue.
Ocean Boulevard, from Livingston Drive to Alamitos Avenue.
Eastbound Shoreline Drive, Shoreline Village Drive to Ocean Boulevard, will close at 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, the city said. That westbound stretch of Shoreline Drive will close at 11:59 p.m. Saturday.
Those who park along the race route, which will have “no parking” signs posted, will be ticketed and have their vehicles towed, the city said. The tow yard is at 3111 E. Willow St.
Belmont Shore, Peninsula and Naples residents, the city said, will be able to park overnight for free in the beach lots along Ocean Boulevard. Residents can leave those lots during the marathon via Granada Avenue — with a police escort.
For more information, go to runlongbeach.com.