FORT SMITH - The 4th Annual Steel Horse Motorcycle Rally is scheduled to take place in downtown Fort Smith on Friday, May 4th and Saturday, May 5th. The Fort Smith Police Department is working with the event organizers to provide general protection and security as well as traffic control operations during much of the event. Garrison Avenue will be restricted to motorcycles and emergency vehicles throughout the event to contain participants to the downtown area. Other traffic will be routed around the area, which spans from 5th Street to 13th Street along Garrison Avenue. There will also be areas of Garrison Avenue that will be affected due to closures and detours for automobiles and trucks.
Garrison Avenue will be closed to all but motorcycles between 5th Street and 13th Street. These closures are scheduled from approximately 6:30pm on Friday the 4th until 2:30am the following morning and from approximately 9:00am on Saturday the 5th until 2:00am the following morning. Times may be adjusted dependent upon traffic flow and observation. Motorists may remain on Rogers Avenue until reaching South 5th Street, where they can move to Garrison and then head west into Oklahoma. Eastbound motorists entering Fort Smith via the Garrison Avenue Bridge will be detoured at 5th Street. Motorists may turn south onto 5th Street and then east onto Rogers Avenue, or north onto 5th and then east on North A to bypass the closed areas.Motorcyclists participating in the event may enter these closed portions of Garrison Avenue, where the far right eastbound and westbound lanes will remain open for the movement of traffic. Motorcycle parking will be allowed at the curbside of Garrison between the closed portions as well as in the center traffic lanes. Motorcycles MUST be parked with the front tire on the yellow center line. All motorcycles must be removed from the center lanes of traffic before the avenue is opened for normal traffic movement at 2:00am. Any vehicles remaining in these traffic lanes at that time will be towed at the owner’s expense.
A motorcycle procession is to take place at 4:00pm on Saturday the 5th. This procession will begin at Fort Smith Park, head toward the downtown area via Riverfront Drive and then turn onto North A Street. The procession will continue east on North A until reaching North 10th Street, where it will turn to the south, passing Cisterna Park and then turn west onto Garrison Avenue and move into the closed portion for motorcycles only. The procession will travel to 6th where it will then loop back to the east within the closed portion of Garrison and then will conclude in the area of 9th and Garrison, where participants may park their motorcycles or disperse out of the general area. During this procession southbound traffic on North 10th Street will be diverted to the east on North A Street. Northbound traffic on Towson crossing over to 11th Street should be unaffected. Motorists attempting to enter Oklahoma will still be able to do so by reaching Rogers Avenue and heading west to 5th, 4th or 3rd, then moving over to Garrison. Southbound traffic on streets intersecting with North A from 2nd to 9th will be held up or turned around for alternate routes east and around the affected area.
The Fort Smith Police Department wants to ensure the safety of motorcycle riders and the general public during this event by reminding everyone to double check traffic lanes before pulling onto any public roadway. Motorcycles can be harder to see but have the same rights to the roadway as any vehicle.