Wichita Kansas will be closed for a couple of hours today.

About 30 years ago (1979?) a group of about 30 motorcylicsts decided they'd meet downtown and "convoy" their donation of toys to the Salvation Army & Toy for Tots Christmas collection point.

It has been an annual event since, known as "The Toy Ride," with about 3,000 bikers (media estimate) participating last year (2009).

A major dispute arose this year when bridge construction blocked the usual route, and the Chief of Police said that the only available alternate route included several state highways that local police lacked the authority to block to ensure safety of the bikers.

A last minute order by the mayor, however, cleared the bridge, and the event will occur as usual, with scheduled kick-off at 1:00 pm local time.

The estimate is that it will take about two hours to get the line-up out of Lawrence Stadium where it begins, with a "rolling block out" proceeding North to the Colliseum end point.

EVERY east/west street in approximately an 8 mile (~13 km) stretch of N. Broadway will be CLOSED to all cross-traffic for an estimated two or more hours, with the exception of one limited access highway (I235-K96-K254)that has an overpass.

If past years are any indication, there will be no place to park within a couple of blocks of the route, beginning around noon. It's undetermined whether most spectators come because they like to hear the rumble, whether they like looking at motorcycles, or they just want to see all the tatoos; but it has become a significant, if brief, event to see here.

Anybody else doing something similar?

John