TRAFFIC restrictions will operate in Dublin today as hundreds of runners take to the streets at 9am for the Golden Pages Dublin Marathon.
But disruption is expected to be kept to a minimum.
According to the Business Houses' Athletic Organisation, which organises the event, major traffic arteries will be open at all times during the race.
One extended feature this year, which will allow motorists to cross the route at different points during the race, is the introduction of seven traffic boxes. This was introduced in 1993 when one traffic box was in operation.
These will be staffed by race stewards and overseen by gardai. At these boxes, drivers will be asked to stop and enter a space while competitors run through a passage in front of the cars.
The runners will then be redirected through a gap behind the cars and the motorists will be allowed to drive forward.
O'Connell Street north bound will be closed from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. but alternative routes will be open at all times.
There will also be temporary road closures in some areas and barriers will be erected for a time in parts of the city. But all routes will be manned by race stewards and there will also be diversion signs.
The Garda Siochana, Dublin City Bus, Dublin Corporation and the Business Houses' Athletic Organisation have had several meetings recently to plan and coordinate their approach to traffic and the provision and continuation of public services. Each group has been involved in devising a system to minimise disruption to traffic and city life.
Local residents' associations along the route have also been involved in helping to organise the marathon as it goes through their particular area.
"We couldn't put it on without the help of the Dublin gardai, Dublin Bus and Dublin Corporation," says race director Mr Jim Aughney of Business Houses' Athletic Organisation, which is a voluntary organisation responsible for the marathon, co ordinating and organising almost 30 other smaller races in and around Dublin during the year.
In the early years of the marathon, you thought of the runner (and not the motorist) as number one.
This has certainly changed, he says. All the major routes have access to the city itself . . . The major arteries are open all the time. For the last number of years we have been fine tuning it."
Mr Michael Stubbs, of Dublin Corporation's Road, Streets and Traffic department, says: "There's not going to be much disruption. We try to minimise it. Obviously we keep in touch with the organisers. There's a lot of forward planning."