************************************************************
Police will implement crowd management and special traffic arrangements to facilitate the holding of a public meeting and procession on Hong Kong Island on July 29 (Sunday).
A public meeting will take place at Football Pitches No.1 and No.2 of Victoria Park at 2pm. The procession will begin at 3pm from the football pitches, via Gate 6 of Victoria Park, Sugar Street, Yee Wo Street, Hennessy Road, Queensway, crossing Queensway at Queensway near Justice Drive, southbound lane of Rodney Street, Harcourt Road, turning from westbound Harcourt Road near Far East Finance Centre to eastbound Harcourt Road, northern pavement and leftmost lane of Harcourt Road, western pavement and leftmost lane of Tim Mei Avenue, to the finishing point at East Wing Forecourt of Central Government Offices at Tim Mei Avenue.
According to the agreement between Police and the organiser, Police will open up all westbound carriageways en route the procession. But the eastbound and westbound tram tracks will be reserved as Emergency Vehicle Access. On the event day, except Gate 5, all other gates of Victoria Park will be opened to the arriving participants.
Participants are encouraged to use public transport to Victoria Park. Since Gate 6 (near Sugar Street) will be used as an egress point to the procession, arriving participants are advised to use other gates to make access to Victoria Park. The organiser estimates that there will be around 10 000 participants to join this event. Moreover, there might be a large number of parents, toddlers and young children taking part in the event; the speed of the procession might be affected. Police hereby appeals to all participants to be patient. Parents should take proper care of their children. Participants are also requested to follow directions given by the event marshals and police officers.
If any participants wish to join the procession en-route, they should adhere to directions given by the event marshals and police officers, and avoid causing any unnecessary disruption to the procession.
Since the procession route falls on some primary roads and transport interchanges, the procession will cause inconvenience to other road users and affect the overall traffic situation on Hong Kong Island. When the procession arrives at major road junctions, depending on the prevailing traffic conditions, the procession may need to give way to vehicular traffic. Police hereby appeals to all participants to be patient when giving way to vehicular traffic at major road junctions.
Special Traffic Arrangements:
A. Road Closure
Phase I
The following roads will be closed to all vehicular traffic from about 2.15pm onwards until the crowd has dispersed:
- U-turn slip road between southbound and northbound Gloucester Road;
- Sugar Street;
- Jardineˇ¦s Bazaar;
- Tang Lung Street; and
- Canal Road East between Hennessy Road and Russell Street.
Phase II
The following roads will be closed to all vehicular traffic from about 2.45pm onwards until the crowd has dispersed:
- southbound Gloucester Road between Victoria Park Road flyover and Causeway Road will be intermittently closed;
- Irving Street (except vehicles heading for Regal Hong Kong Hotel);
- westbound Yee Wo Street between Pennington Street and Hennessy Road;
- Yun Ping Road between Kai Chiu Road and Pak Sha Road;
- Kai Chiu Road;
- Lee Garden Road between Kai Chiu Road and Hennessy Road;
- westbound Hennessy Road between Yee Wo Street and Lee Garden Road;
- Canal Road West between Sharp Street West and Hennessy Road;
- Wan Chai Road between Canal Road West and Morrison Hill Road;
- Bowrington Road between Sharp Street West and Hennessy Road;
- westbound Hennessy Road west of Lee Garden Road and Queensway will be intermittently closed;
- slip road leading from eastbound Johnston Road to westbound Hennessy Road;
- Rodney Street;
- westbound Harcourt Road between the exit of Harcourt Garden carpark and Tamar Street;
- fast lane of westbound Harcourt Road between Tamar Street and Cotton Tree Drive;
- eastbound Harcourt Road between Tim Wa Avenue and Tim Mei Avenue;
- southbound Tim Wa Avenue (except vehicles heading for Chief Executive Office and Central Government Offices carpark);
- fast lane of Garden Road flyover; and
- southbound Edinburgh Place between Lung Wo Road and Connaught Road Central.
B. Traffic Diversion
Phase I
The following traffic diversion will be implemented from about 2.15pm onwards until the crowd has dispersed and the road closure is lifted:
- traffic along southbound Gloucester Road will be prohibited from turning right to northbound Gloucester Road;
- traffic along eastbound Yee Wo Street will be prohibited from turning left to Sugar Street;
- all traffic along westbound Russell Street will be diverted to turn left to southbound Canal Road East; and
- traffic along westbound Hennessy Road will be prohibited from turning left to Canal Road East.
Phase II
The following traffic diversion will be implemented from about 2.45pm onwards until the crowd has dispersed and the road closure is lifted:
- traffic along southbound Victoria Park Road flyover will be diverted to turn right to westbound Gloucester Road service road (if necessary);
- traffic along southbound Gloucester Road heading for Causeway Road will be diverted to southbound Tai Hang Road flyover (if necessary);
- traffic along eastbound Great George Street will be diverted to turn left onto northbound Gloucester Road (except vehicles heading for southbound Tai Hang Road flyover);
- traffic along westbound Causeway Road will be prohibited from turning right to westbound Irving Street (except vehicles heading for Regal Hong Kong Hotel) and must turn left to westbound Leighton Road;
- traffic along westbound Irving Street will be diverted to turn right to northbound Pennington Street;
- traffic along northbound Pennington Street will be diverted to turn right to eastbound Yee Wo Street;
- traffic along northbound Yun Ping Road will be diverted to turn left to Pak Sha Road or Lan Fong Road;
- traffic along northbound Canal Road West near Sharp Street West will be diverted to the up-ramp leading to northbound Canal Road flyover;
- traffic along eastbound Sharp Street West will be diverted to the up-ramp leading to northbound Canal Road flyover;
- traffic along eastbound Sharp Street West will be prohibited from turning left to northbound Bowrington Road;
- traffic along northbound Bowrington Road will be diverted to turn right to eastbound Sharp Street West;
- traffic along eastbound Wan Chai Road will be diverted to turn right to southbound Morrison Hill Road;
- traffic along southbound Stewart Road will be prohibited from turning right to westbound Hennessy Road;
- traffic along southbound Fleming Road will be prohibited from turning right to westbound Hennessy Road;
- traffic along northbound Fleming Road will be prohibited from turning left to westbound Hennessy Road;
- traffic along southbound Fenwick Street will be prohibited from turning right to westbound Hennessy Road;
- traffic along westbound Harcourt Road near the exit of Harcourt Garden carpark will be diverted to westbound Harcourt Road flyover;
- traffic along eastbound Harcourt Road will be diverted to turn right to southbound Cotton Tree Drive;
- traffic along northbound Cotton Tree Drive will be diverted to northbound Tim Wa Avenue;
- traffic along Lung Wo Road will be prohibited from entering Tim Wa Avenue (except vehicles heading for Chief Executive Office and Central Government Offices carpark); and
- traffic along Lung Wo Road will be prohibited from entering southbound Edinburgh Place.
C. Green Minibus (GMB) Diversion
In connection with the public procession, five GMB routes (10, 11, 24M, 31 and 40) on Hong Kong Island will be diverted from about 2.15pm until the crowd has dispersed and the road closure is lifted.
D. Suspension of Bus Stops
All bus stops along southbound Gloucester Road, Irving Street, westbound Yee Wo Street, westbound Hennessy Road and Rodney Street, and Admiralty (East) Public Transport Interchange will be suspended from about 2.45pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal.
E. Suspension of Public Light Bus (PLB) Stand and GMB Stand
The PLB stand at Sugar Street and GMB stand at Tang Lung Street will be temporarily suspended from 2.15pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal.
F. Restriction on Access to / Exit from Carparks
All carparks along westbound Hennessy Road and Rodney Street may be closed at short notice if necessary. In addition, vehicles may not be permitted to leave or access the carparks along the procession routes during the road closure period until the roads are re-opened to traffic.
In the same afternoon, there will also be a major football event at the Hong Kong Stadium, together with extensive road closure and traffic diversion in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Central area. Police expect the effects of diversion of bus routes and general traffic (away from Yee Wo Street, Hennessy Road and Admiralty (East) Public Transport Interchange) will result in severe congestion of other major roads in the vicinity, such as Victoria Park Road, Leighton Road, Gloucester Road, Queensway, Harcourt Road, Cross Harbour Tunnel and Aberdeen Tunnel. Any vehicles found illegally parked within the precinct of the special traffic arrangements specified above might be towed away without prior notice.
Appropriate traffic aids will be erected on site to guide motorists. Bus companies and GMB operators will display notices to advise passengers of the special traffic arrangements. Motorists should exercise tolerance and patience in case of traffic congestion and take heed of instruction of the Police. They should monitor the latest traffic news via media sources.
Depending on traffic and crowd conditions at the time, other ad hoc traffic and public transport measures, including further closure of roads, traffic diversions and suspension of public transport services, may be introduced.
Members of the public who want to go to the affected area are advised to use public transport services. They should avoid driving to the affected areas, especially Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Admiralty areas. They are advised to plan their routes early, use alternative routes and allow more traveling time to cater for unexpected delays. Bus and other public transport commuters are advised to note the arrangements of route diversions and suspension or relocation of stops.
Police Report No. 221
Ends/Friday, July 27, 2012
Issued at HKT 20:15
NNNN
