Olympics 2012
Carlisle City Council is on the countdown to the 2012 Olympic
Torch Relay.
The Olympic Flame will be visiting Carlisle, on Wednesday 20
June 2012 and will pass through again on Thursday 21 June 2012.
Carlisle is in the only place in the UK to welcome the Flame not
once, but twice!
Evening Celebration
Carlisle has been chosen as one of the host cities for the
London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Route. A FREE
evening celebration will be held on Wednesday, 20 June 2012,
between 5pm and 7.30pm in Bitts Park, to mark the Olympic Flame
stopping off in the city as part of its journey around the UK.
International pop star
Katy B will take to the stage as part of the Evening
Celebration event. She has close links with the Olympics after she
teamed up with Mark Ronson to create Coca-Cola’s song for London 2012.
The Bitts Park entertainment will be staged by London Organising
Committee for the Olympic Games’s Presenting Partners – Coca-Cola;
Lloyds TSB and Samsung. Each will provide 20 minutes of exciting
entertainment for the event, including live music acts, acrobatic
displays and dance performances. Heroes Cheerleaders and
StagedRight
will also perform at the event.
As part of the build-up to the on-stage programme, sports
tasters sessions will also be on offer in the park from 3pm
onwards. These will include: tennis; hockey; netball; squash;
athletics; golf; cycling; basketball; badminton; canoeing (a
simulator) and information on how to take part in rowing.
The Route
As part of its journey through the city streets, local
residents, schools, businesses and community groups are being
invited to join in the celebration and share in the Olympic spirit.
More than 60 groups have already pledged their support and will be
helping to ‘animate’ the route through Carlisle. This could include
creative displays, performing arts or street decoration.
The aim is to develop a carnival type feel to the Torch visit
and showcase Carlisle as a varied and dynamic city, open for
business. With this in mind, a series of activities will be held in
the city centre (outside the Old Town Hall) from 4pm.
See the route
through the city on Wednesday 20 June 2012 (opens in new
window)
On Wednesday, 20 June, the Torch Relay will start its journey in
Carlisle at around 6pm, at the junction of Warwick Road and
Montgomery Way. It will then travel towards the city centre, via
The Crescent, into the main pedestrianised area and will pass by
the Old Town Hall at around 6.30pm. It will then continue its
journey down Castle Street, Finkle Street, Fisher Street, Market
Street, then onto West Tower Street towards Bitts Park, where an
Evening Celebration event will be held.
On Wednesday, 20 June, the following traffic and parking
restrictions will be in place:
- No parking on Finkle Street between 7am and 7pm
- No parking on Castle Street, St Mary’s Gate, Fisher Street and
Market Street between 12noon and 7pm
- Road closure on Bank Street from 12noon to 7pm except for
access for delivery purposes only.
- Road closure on Castle Street, Finkle Street, St Mary’s Gate,
Market Street West Walls and Abbey Street around 6.15pm to
accommodate the cavalcades route around the streets between 6.38pm
and 6.45pm.
- 5.45pm – 6.30pm – Temporary road closure on Warwick Road,
between Montgomery Way and Spencer Street and on Victoria Place
between Warwick Road and Georgian Way. Traffic will be directed
onto Spencer Street and London Road to access the A69 and M6.
- Once the Olympic Torch Relay cavalcade passes Victoria Place,
the East bound route will be reopened along Warwick Road. A rolling
road closure of traffic at the Spencer Street/Victoria Place
junction will start at approximately 6.30pm for traffic moving
along Spencer Street. The East bound route heading along Victoria
Place will be re-opened to traffic once the entire cavalcade has
passed this point.
- The rolling road closure will continue along Spencer Street,
Warwick Road around the Citadel and into English Street where it
moves into the city centre pedestrian zone at around 6.35pm.
- Side roads will be temporarily suspended until the
cavalcade passes, after which point they will be re-opened to
normal traffic.
- Blue Badge holders will not be able to park in the City Centre
on Wednesday, 20 June.
On Thursday, 21 June, the Torch Relay will arrive back into
Carlisle at around 10.15am. It will travel down Kingstown Road,
Scotland Road, Hardwicke Circus and Castle Way towards Wigton
Road. Leaving the Carlisle boundary around 11am.
All traffic will be managed by “rolling road closure” i.e.
Police outriders will be stopping traffic at junctions until the
cavalcade passes by, after which the roads will be re-opened. This
process will take no longer than 30 seconds at each junction.
However traffic heading in the same direction as the cavalcade will
be subject to delays and should seek alternative routes as the
convoy will be travelling at a speed of four miles per hour whilst
in “Torch Bearer” mode.