Ironman to impact drivers on North Shore

Expect highway closures and traffic delays in the North Lake Tahoe area on Sept. 22 because of the inaugural Ironman Lake Tahoe race.

Northbound Highway 89 will be completely closed from Fairway Drive in Tahoe City to Squaw Valley Road from 7am to 5:30pm on race day. Southbound Highway 267 will be closed from Northstar Boulevard to Kingswood/Commonwealth Drive in Kings Beach from 8:30am to 4pm. Highway 28 will be closed in both directions in Kings Beach from Fox Street to the Highway 267 intersection from 6:30-9:30am during the athletes’ transition from swim to bike.

The eastbound Interstate 80 off-ramp to Highway 267/89 and the Highway 89 on-ramp to westbound I-80 will both be closed from 6:30am to 3:30pm.

Access to residential streets from the highways will be closed at several locations as well. There will be traffic-control operators and CHP officers stationed on intersections around the lake during the race. Detours will be available and roadside electronic message boards deployed around the course.

Competitors will start at Kings Beach State Recreation Area for the swim course, then transition into the bike ride along highways 28, 89 into Truckee and onto 267 over Brockway Summit and then back down to Highway 28, repeat the loop, and then continue onto Highway 89 again before finishing at Squaw Valley. From there they’ll run down to Tahoe City and back on the Truckee River bike path adjacent to Highway 89 before crossing the finish line at Squaw. Competitors have 17 hours to finish, with the last swimmers in the water by 7am, the bike course closing at 5:30pm and the run course closing at midnight.