Ironman in full swing; Will there be an impact this year?
UPDATE: The city of La Quinta has sent out a news alert indicating all roads in the city are now open.
Valley locals were tied-up during road closures Sunday morning.
Delli Kennedy, resident of Indio said she made it to church Sunday morning by taking shortcuts.
“Traffic is ehhh… yeah thats how I feel but you know it could be worse too,"said Kennedy.
But after church, when we spoke with her she was having trouble.
“Now going home, i can’t go home by taking the usually streets they told me I have to go back to Indian Wells, Fred Warring," said Kennedy.
Eventually, she tried a different approach.
“So I parked my car here, I am going to take the bus because I just saw the bus and I’ll go home and wait until after four and come and pick up car," said Kennedy.
Kennedy said she knew about the competition was happening Sunday but wishes she was better informed.
“I didn’t get anything in the mail which road would be closed and which one would be open that's something the city of Indio even though the event is not at an Indio venue but they should let the residents know," said Kennedy.
Others we spoke with were also inconvenienced.
“They are creating havoc in the desert as to where people can’t get to work on time or they are 30 minutes late," said Adam Slater, from Palm Desert. "Right now, I am driving to go to Indio trying to pick up an employee that now is going to be an hour late trying to get back to the restaurant.”
It's the second year the city of La Quinta is hosting the triathlon.
The city mailed out noticed in advance warning La Quinta residents and business owners about the road closures.
And the city also had Community Brochures with information specific to each neighborhood as well as a detour map to get around the event on race day.
Businesses we checked with had down days.
“The people don’t come in. We are so slow and today is a busy day and we are waiting for the people..the street is blocked so that is just too slow," said Daniela Casillas, employee of Los Corrales.
“We were prepared for this but we did open for the people that attempted to come here,"said Linda Locklear, owner of Bobby's Detroit Coney Island Diner.
INITIAL REPORT:
Last year, The first-ever Ironman triathlon took place in La Quinta -- bringing spectators and athletes from across the world to swim, run and bike 70.3 miles. But the event plenty of excitement and also some frustration as locals took to social media to express concerns about traffic issues and road closures.
The city of La Quinta took the backlash and apologized to residents for the traffic issues created by the Ironman last year through a letter.
