The annual racing weekend at Sparta’s Kentucky Speedway will feature traffic flow on and off the race track. It’s the moving of vehicles off track which has the attention of police and parking officials.
It’s been five years since the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the northern Kentucky track. That inaugural event found major traffic and parking problems causing many headaches. Highway access and parking improvements followed. Still State Police Trooper Josh Lawson says signage, traffic apps, and officers are all important keys to a smooth event. “We’ve increased the amount of signage, warnings, press releases, things that we’re putting out that can be pre-emptive to try to decrease the amount of traffic who is not intentionally coming here to the race. They are just passing through,” said Lawson.
In fact, Lawson says motorists traveling from Louisville to Cincinnati or the other way may want to use interstates 75 and 64, and not I-71. He says that’s especially the case for commercial haulers. Lawson says everything seems to be shaping up for a big crowd. “The weather looking as good as it is. Rain usually keeps a lot of people away. The heat usually doesn’t do much to keep them away, but we had a very sizeable crowd last year, bigger than years’ past and I don’t have any reason to think that it won’t be the same or increase over last year’s numbers.”
Lawson says motorists traveling between Louisville and Cincinnati should consider using interstates 75 and 64 and steer clear of I-71. ?
