The traveling Vietnam Memorial wall is expected to bring almost 50,000 people into Moundsville during a weekend that will be full of patriotic recognition, but also, officials say, full of detours.


Come Aug. 23, the streets of Moundsville will be packed with people coming to participate in the Cost of Freedom weekend. With the additional traffic, Moundsville Police Chief Tom Mitchell said there could be some major delays, especially during the opening procession when the memorial wall is brought into town.


"Traffic going northbound is going to blocked off for a while. It's going to be a big escort and we have to go across the Jefferson Avenue Ext. So if you're coming north at that point, it's going to impact you pretty badly, 30 minutes or so," Mitchell said.


Once the wall is set up, Mitchell added, traffic will improve. However there will still be some detours.


Jefferson Avenue will be closed from 2nd to 10th streets with cross traffic still moving.


"It will be a matter of being detoured one block. So if you are familiar with the area, it won't be that big of a deal," Mitchell said.


Mitchell said out-of-towners may still be confused by the detours but that they will have extra officers on staff helping to keep things flowing.


"What you want to do is maintain your normal operations. So we have our normal operations, then we have the festival, and we will have additional units to work that area," explained Mitchell.


The four-day festival will come to an end on Sunday the 26th with some more slow downs as a motorcycle procession passes by the memorial.


Mitchell said if you get caught in any of the traffic, it's best to just remain patient and stick it out.