Trail of Tears traffic rolls in about midday

FLORENCE – Royal Avenue will be the key road to remember today if you need to get to or from east Florence in the early afternoon.

Beginning around 1:45 p.m. today, the Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride will roll through the city on Florence Boulevard.

Florence Deputy Police Chief Tony Logan said the ride will close access to Florence Boulevard and part of Dr. Hicks Drive as it makes its way to McFarland.

It will take approximately 90 minutes for the ride to go through Florence.

During that time, the only access to and from east Florence will be under the Florence Boulevard overpass at Royal Avenue or via Railroad Avenue.

Motorists will still have easy access to O’Neil Bridge.

“If someone has got to go to Colbert County, they need to plan their route ahead of time,” Logan said.

“You are going to have a lot of motorcycles in town on Saturday, so be cautious in driving and watching for motorcycles.”

The annual motorcycle ride is estimated to have an economic impact of $750,000 to $1 million, said Florence/Lauderdale Tourism Director Debbie

Wilson.

Wilson said her office has received some grief over the controversy about where the ride ends.

“We don’t have any animosity with Waterloo,” Wilson said. “We promote them all year long.”

Wilson said that it’s not unusual for tourism employees to serve on boards of events that they promote.

“We’re involved with a lot of boards,” she said. “I don’t think there is a conflict at all. That’s just what tourism offices do.”

This year’s controversy isn’t all bad for the ride, Wilson said.

“More people are talking about it. It’s not the same-old same-old. And its gratifying to see how passionate people are about the ride.”

Florence officials also have been blamed for trying to keep the ride in their city.

The Florence council actually passed a resolution requesting the private, nonprofit Trail of Tears board continue the ride to Waterloo.

Waterloo officials say the economic impact from the ride is huge for their town.

The town has very few businesses, but those businesses survive on the crowds drawn there by the Trail of Tears ride, town officials say.

Todd Twilley can be reached at 740-5728 or todd.twilley@timesdaily.com.