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Fri April 4, 2008

Custom cars roll into town for annual weekend event

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Times for the street rod show at State Fair Park will be 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Saturday, and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. For more information about the street rod show, go to www.nsra-usa.com.
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By Brian Sargent
Staff Writer
For more than a decade, street rods have cruised into Oklahoma City for an annual car show at State Fair Park.

West of fair park, after the street rod show closes for the day, a separate car show begins in the evening.


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One car show welcomes spectators. The other causes traffic jams and some unwelcome sightseers.

This weekend, modified pre-1949 custom cars are the highlight of the National Street Rod Association Southwest Street Rod Nationals. The cars, from across the United States, are expected to draw thousands of spectators to fair park.

Local hot rodders, who like to cruise along Meridian Avenue near Interstate 40 during street rod weekend, have kept police busy directing traffic there in recent years, said police Lt. Jay Freeman. Freeman is the police department's special events coordinator and will be at this year's cruise on Meridian.

The Meridian cruisers aren't in the street rod association, association officials said.

Thousands of people have lined Meridian between SW 29 and Reno Avenue as local hot rods cruise on the road. People sit in lawn chairs and park along Meridian, causing traffic jams that can hinder access for emergency vehicles, Freeman said.

The I-40 exit ramps to Meridian will be closed from 6 p.m. to midnight today, Saturday and Sunday because of heavy congestion anticipated during the street rod show. Left turns and U-turns on Meridian between Reno and SW 29 will be prohibited during the same time.

Freeman said police could decide to shut down Meridian if traffic gets too congested, as has happened some years in the past.

Tuesday, the Oklahoma City Council approved an emergency ordinance banning outdoor food and alcohol sales there.

Few problems were reported in the area last year.

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