Ararat Rural City will be hosting a leg of the Queen’s Baton Relay on Tuesday, February 13 in the lead up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
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The Queen’s Baton Relay will pass through Ararat on Tuesday with four Grampians representatives involved.
Ararat’s Karen Brennan and Chloe Dunmore will be joined by Stawell’s Joel Freeland and Keith Lofthouse for the event, starting at Ararat College at 4.50pm.
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A route has been confirmed, with the Queen’s Baton to commence from Ararat College at approximately 4.50pm. To view the map in more detail, click here.
Local batonbearers, including former Olympic cyclist Shane Kelly, will carry the Queen’s Baton along Barkly Street, left into Albert Street and back along High Street before entering Alexandra Gardens and finally concluding at Alexandra Oval Community Centre.
The relay is expected to take approximately 40 minutes. A number of road closures will be in place throughout the afternoon.
Baton relay road closures:
- Early morning: Signs placed along north side of Barkly Street and the south side of High Street alerting drivers to clear parking bays by 2pm.
- 2pm: North lane of Barkly Street (between Ingor Street and Vincent Street) closed to all traffic. The south traffic lane will remain open until 4pm.
- 4pm: Full road closure of Barkly Street takes place between George Road and Albert Street.
- 4.50pm: Relay begins at Ararat College travelling at approximately 5km/h. The relay convoy contains 19 vehicles, riders and runners, and is approximately 70m long.
- 5pm onwards: Roads begin to re-open behind the relay convoy as it passes by.
- Approx. 5.10pm: Full closure of High Street between Albert and Vincent Street takes place, re-opening behind the relay convoy as it passes.
- 5.30pm: Relay arrives at Alexandra Oval for the community celebration including a free barbecue and “come and try” sports sessions. The last of the roads, including the intersection of Vincent Street and the Pyrenees Highway, are re-opened.
- 6.30pm: Community celebration at Alexandra Oval ends.
While the relay starts at 4.50pm and runs until approximately 5.30pm, it is important to note that street closures and parking restrictions will impact the town from earlier in the day.
Along with the road closures, Victoria Police require all parked vehicles along the north side of Barkly Street (Post Office side) and the south side of High Street (RSL side) to be removed before the relay begins.
Signs and bollards will be in place earlier on the day with vehicles to be cleared by drivers from these areas by 2pm. Any vehicles left parked in parking bays when the roads are officially closed, will not be permitted to leave until the relay concludes.
Residents can celebrate Ararat hosting the Queen's Baton Relay with a community event including come and try Commonwealth Games sports sessions, a free barbecue, and a Q&A with our own sporting legend and Games cyclist Shane Kelly.
The community and school children are invited to form a corridor for Shane to run through as he crosses the oval with the baton to the podium at the conclusion of the relay, around 5.30pm.
Relay schedule
4:48pm Chloe Dunmore
4:50pm Joel Freeland
4:53pm Justin Amor
4:55pm Karen Brennan
4:57pm Quentin Baudinette
5pm Clive Watts
5:02pm Tim Kearney
5:05pm Alexander Guenther
5:07pm Amechai Bawden
5:10pm Keith Lofthouse
5:12pm Jamie McInerney
5:14pm Dean Berry
5:17pm Madison King
5:19pm David Cole
5:22pm Sophie Brown
5:24pm Andrew Lindsey
5:27pm Shane Kelly
5:30pm Ararat Community Celebration