The country's largest free arts festival returns to Baltimore for its 36th year this week. Artscape runs from Friday, July 19 through Sunday, July 21. To prepare for the festival, a number of roads are closing days ahead of time.
Starting at 7 a.m. on Monday, July 15 these roads will be shut down:
- Cathedral Street between Mount Royal Avenue and Preston Street
- Royal Avenue between Dolphin and St. Paul Streets. The exit ramp from the Jones Falls Expressway to Mount Royal Avenue will also be closed
- Oliver Street between Mt. Royal and Maryland Avenues
- Preston Street between Cathedral and N. Howard Streets
- Preston Street between Maryland Avenue and Cathedral Street
Then on Wednesday, July 17 more roads will be blocked off at 6 a.m.:
- Charles Street between Preston Street and North Avenue. The I-83 entrance ramp will also close, however a special traffic chute will be implemented intermittently along Penn Drive for access to the I-83 ramp
- Lafayette Avenue between Maryland Avenue and St. Paul Street
- Lanvale Street between Maryland Avenue and Lovegrove Street
The roads closing Monday and Wednesday will not reopen until 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 23.
More road closures will be in effect while the festival is going on. The following roads will be closed from 9 a.m. Friday, July 19 through 6 a.m. Monday, July 22:
- Maryland Avenue between Preston Street and North Avenue, including the bike lane
- Falls Road between Lafayette and Maryland Avenues
- North Avenue curb lane between Charles and St. Paul Streets
- Park Avenue/Biddle Street between Howard and Cathedral Streets
With more than 350,000 people expected to attend, festival-goers are urged to take public transportation. Right now there is no light rail service between the North Avenue and Camden Yards stations. However a shuttle bus is carrying passengers between those stops.
