Businesses in the Illawarra's northern suburbs are cautiously optimistic about the potential of the 2022 UCI Road World Cycling championships.
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The routes for the event, which will feature more than 1000 riders from around the world over the course of eight days, were released last Friday.
While the details around how road closures will be timed and managed are yet to be released, it's certain the largest event Wollongong has ever seen will make an impact on businesses.
It is expected more than 300,000 spectators will line the course, but will they shop local?
Chris Henry, who owns Blackbird Cafe in Thirroul said he was still unsure of what impact the event would have on his business.
"It's a a bit of a hard one to read," he said.
"I had no idea it was even in planning - the first I heard about it was when I saw the route in the paper. It will bring plenty of locals out, and I think in Thirroul it will probably be positive because it's easy to walk down and watch - Coleldale and areas further north might find it a bit harder."
Michael Stagni, of Coledale Fine Wines said he didn't think the event would have a significant effect.
"We have the annual Sydney to Wollongong bike ride that we only make a little out of," he said.
"I hope I'm wrong of course and we get plenty out of it. It's lovely in the northern suburbs but when you start closing roads and silly things like that it does start to interfere with how locals and motorists behave."
It is understood there will be more detail available on the timing and nature of road closures around March or April next year.
Until then, event organisers are encouraging businesses to consider how they might change their operations to work around the event, by moving to online delivery or adjusting opening hours where possible.
Wollongong 2022 CEO Stu Taggart said a number of stakeholders were involved in working out the nuts and bolts of how the mega-event will run.
"Wollongong 2022 is working closely with Wollongong City Council, NSW Government agencies and traffic management experts to minimise the impact," he said.
"We're working with emergency services to make sure they'll still be able to respond to emergencies quickly and safely.
"We are also meeting and speaking with service providers for the local community and highly-affected stakeholders so they have information about the next steps of traffic and transport management planning to help them prepare for the event."
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