BUSINESSES and residents in North Yorkshire are being given access to more details about road closures associated with the Grand Départ of the Tour de France.

All the latest information about the anticipated timings of closures, traffic management, and diversion routes, will be presented on an ‘indicative’ basis on North Yorkshire County Council’s website (www.northyorks.gov.uk/tour). It will be updated as and when more precise details become clear.

The exact timings of road closures will be dictated by variable factors such as the numbers of spectators and arrival times. It is therefore not possible with three month to go before the event for the county council to provide exact timings with any certainty.

“Having said that, we recognise that residents and businesses need to be able to plan as far ahead as possible,” said County Councillor Gareth Dadd, Executive Member for Highways.

“For this reason we are providing indicative road closure timings. We will make them as accurate as possible using all the information available to us. However, it should be borne in mind that they are intended as a guide, and are subject to change.”

The website will also provide information for spectators, covering topics such as where to watch the race, the ease of access for different sites, and the location of car parks, campsites and events.

“Our aim is to ensure that the Grand Départ passes off smoothly for everyone – for the competitors, for the spectators, and for all other highways users,” added Coun Dadd. “This is a fantastic event, and the benefits to North Yorkshire will be enormous. We want to do all we can to make sure that it is a huge success – and that as far as possible, disruption for everyone who needs to use our roads on the weekend of July 5 and 6, and the days either side of the event is kept to a minimum.”