ROT Rally, hear it roar, and more weekend street closures

The upcoming weekend sees a couple of major annual events: The celebration of Juneteenth and the Republic of Texas Biker Rally. Road closures for each include major streets downtown and on the Eastside, but the crucial inclusion of the “bike” in “biker rally” means ROT tends to dominate the streets informally all weekend.

Republic of Texas Biker Rally

Friday, June 14, 6 p.m.-11:45 p.m.

The ROT Rally ride as it affects street closures comes in two stages.

The first is a sort of grand-entrance ride that starts at the Travis County Exposition Center and culminates at Congress Avenue on a route detailed in the map below. While streets aren’t officially closed for this part of the parade, police will be present to prevent non-rally traffic and cross traffic (including from pedestrians, bicycles, an so on) on the route for the length of the procession.

The ride from the Expo Center starts at 7:45 p.m.

The second part of Friday night’s ride and rally takes place on Congress Avenue, where bikers arrive at the end of their journey from the Expo Center. Street closures on and adjacent to Congress Avenue from 11th Street to Cesar Chavez Street will start at 6 p.m. Numbered streets will also be closed one block east and one block west of Congress Avenue, between Brazos and Colorado streets. Those areas will remain closed to non-ROT vehicles during the rally, which ends at 11:45 p.m.

Juneteenth 2K Freedom Run/Walk and Parade

Saturday, June 15, 9:30 a.m.-noon

The annual Juneteenth parade, proceeded by 2K run/walk, has staging areas along Comal Street between Manor Road and 14th Street. The run and parade start at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Comal Street and proceed down MLK, Chestnut Avenue, and Rosewood Avenue, ending at Rosewood Park, where the Juneteenth Festival will commence.