DAHLONEGA - Some streets in Dahlonega will close as early as 5:00 Friday morning as the town readies itself for the arrival of the Tour de Georgia.
More than 120 professional bicycle racers will enter town between 2:45 and 3:30 Friday afternoon - as they conclude the 134-mile Stage 5 of the six-day event.
Local volunteers and law enforcement agencies, including North Georgia College & State University police, will help block off key roads and streets leading to the university.
NGCSU officials warn that students should plan to allow extra time to drive onto campus, park their vehicles and get to class on Friday.
Main Street from the Gold Museum in the middle of town to College Circle in front of Price Memorial will be closed to all traffic from 5
a.m. Friday until 5 or 6 p.m. that day.
In addition, Main Street will be closed from College Circle all the way to the Morrison-Moore Parkway from 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. except for students, faculty and staff. Students should plan to show their ID card or a parking decal to reach the parking lots at the Health & Natural Sciences Building and behind the Woodward Infirmary. Students and employees may also enter the main campus via Main Street.
Church Street will be closed from College Circle to Main Street. The one-way on South Church Street will be reversed from College Circle to Maple Street, so that traffic will flow from north to south that day. Anyone exiting from College Circle or from Church Street must take Maple Street to Chestatee Street.
With the racers expected to arrive in Dahlonega around 2:30 to 3 p.m. Friday, other routes to campus will be affected, especially from noon throughout the afternoon. Morrison-Moore Parkway and Chestatee Street in
front of the main gate to campus will be closed to all traffic 10 minutes before the expected arrival time of the cyclists.
Students and employees planning to travel from Suches, Woody's Gap, Neel's Gap, Vogel State Park or points between those locations and
Dahlonega on Friday, should be aware that roads will be closed beginning around noon for approximately two and one-half hours while the cyclists complete the loop. Also, traffic from Dalton to Ellijay to Suches will be affected that day.
The cyclists will race 139.4 miles on Friday, climbing a total of 18,953 feet before completing the day's competition on Main Street in front of El Maguey restaurant near the old campus gate in front of Price Memorial Hall.
Friday, the racers begin in Dalton, and cycle to Ellijay, then take back roads to Suches, down Highway 60 through Woody's Gap to the intersection of Route 19 and Route 60, continuing down Highway 19 turning north at the intersection at Route 129 through Neel's Gap, to Vogel State Park, then Highway 180 back to Suches, then south on Highway
60 to Dahlonega, continuing on Morrison-Moore Parkway to Chestatee Street and North to the Gold Museum, making a left on West Main Street
to the finish line next to the campus.
Monday
April 28th, 2025
5:00AM
