Wolverhampton baton relay route ahead of Commonwealth Games is unveiled
The Queen's Baton Relay will pay a visit to Molineux, a lucky city primary school and West Park on its route around the Black Country.
More details of the baton's route through Wolverhampton were revealed as businesses attended a briefing to learn more about the logistics of the Commonwealth Games.
The Queen’s Baton Relay Wolverhampton leg will begin on Sunday, July 24, at 8am in East Park when it drops out of the sky thanks to The Wings Parachute Team.
It will then be carried to Aldersley Leisure Village for 9am before heading to St Andrew's Primary School in Coleman Street for 9.50am.
After that it is on to West Park, via Hunter Street, Newhampton Road West and Kingsland Road, before winding its way onto Molineux for 10.40am. Finally the baton will be taken to Queen Square in the city centre for 11.05am in time for a celebratory event.
Wolverhampton Wrestling Club at the Guru Nanak Satsang Sikh Temple in Cannock Road is also due to get a visit from the Queen's Baton during the relay.
The briefing by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) on Tuesday gave businesses across Wolverhampton the opportunity to learn more about road closures, travel advice and security ahead of the Games.
The session held at Grand Station on Sun Street also gave businesses the chance to learn more about how they could showcase their businesses and attract new customers, with the eyes of the world on the city on August 4 when the cycling time trial takes place in Wolverhampton. Roads around the city centre and heading out towards Penn, Sedgley, Dudley and South Staffordshire are set to be closed throughout the day as the women's and men's events run through the streets.
It was one of a number of briefings and information sessions taking place across the region to help business and residents to learn more about the Games and how they will need to adapt to road closures and travel restrictions.
There were presentations from TfWM officers, members of the Commonwealth Games organising committee, Wolverhampton Council and Wolverhampton Business Improvement District (BID) and opportunities to ask questions through the briefing.
Among the subjects discussed were the route of the time trial, including large parts of Wolverhampton city centre and a section of Dudley town centre, and an overview of the road closures on the day, including a map showing the access points during the day.
Details of the city council's role in the Games were also covered, with Wolverhampton hosting the time trial, the Queen's Baton Relay and a festival site on the day of the time trial on Market Square.
Bilvir Chander-Kumar, director of Equinox on Victoria Street, said the session had been very useful and that the Games provided a real opportunity for the city.
She said: "These sessions have been very informative and helped us to be prepped up for the event as we look after a lot of businesses on the Westside and can now communicate to them what is happening on the day.
"If we can understand the logistics of if, then we can capitalise on it as it's all about showcasing our businesses, so these sessions are going to help us see where we can fit in and are very useful."
More sessions are set to take place across the region, including a drop-in session on Wednesday, July 22, between 2pm and 7.30pm at Sandwell Aquatics Centre for members of the public to know more about the plans for the area.
A list of business events, which will take place on Zoom and Facebook Live, can be found at birmingham2022.com/getset/local-businesses/briefings, while public drop-in sessions for all areas can be found at birmingham2022.com/getset/sessions
