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Police will implement crowd safety management and special traffic arrangements to facilitate the holding of public meetings and processions in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Central tomorrow (July 1).
The meeting is scheduled at 1.30pm in Victoria Park and the procession is scheduled to set off at 2.30pm, taking the route from Causeway Road, Irving Street, Pennington Street, Yee Wo Street, Hennessy Road, Queensway, Des Voeux Road Central to Chater Road Pedestrian Precinct where a meeting will be held in the vicinity until 11pm.
Crowd safety management arrangement
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Public meeting in Victoria Park
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Participants are encouraged to use public transport to Victoria Park. Crowds are expected to enter the venue from the east through Gate 14 (near Hing Fat Street and Lau Sin Street); or via the main entrance from the west through Gates 6 and 7 (entrances near Sugar Street and Great George Street). Participants of the public meeting and procession arriving by MTR are advised to use MTR exits A1 and A2 in Tin Hau Station to reach Lau Sin Street and Gate 14 for access to the venue. Depending on the developing crowd situation, a queuing system will be initiated at the car park area along Hing Fat Street to facilitate the arriving crowd.
The meeting is mainly conducted at No. 1-6 football pitches. The organiser will set up a stage between No. 4 and No. 5 football pitches and reserve No. 6 football pitch for the guests and groups invited by the organiser to have meetings.
Other participants will be arranged to go to No. 5 football pitch for the meeting and to await the start. Should No. 5 football pitch become close to saturation, participants will then be arranged to go to No. 4 football pitch, No. 3 football pitch, No. 2 football pitch and No. 1 football pitch in sequence. Participants are urged to adhere to the directions given by event marshals and Police officers on site.
Police, event marshals and the Civil Aid Service will adopt a principle of ．First come, first go・ in order to ensure the procession can set off from Victoria Park orderly and in sequence.
When the procession begins to set off, the groups and participants at No. 6 football pitch will lead the procession to leave Victoria Park via Gate 16.
Participants at No. 5 football pitch will follow to leave via Gate 16 while those at No. 4 football pitch leave from Gate 17. Participants at other football pitches will move easterly, and then leave Victoria Park in sequence through Gate 17, as indicated by the red arrows on Diagram A.
Procession route
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The venue for the meeting at the end of the event includes Des Voeux Road Central. As a result, tram service (the section between Causeway Bay and Central) will be affected for a considerably long period of time.
After a thorough risk assessment and the striking of a balance between the rights of the parties concerned, Police have decided to allow the procession to proceed all the way along the westbound vehicle lanes of the procession route, and the eastbound and westbound tram lanes (the portion between Pennington Street and Heard Street and that between Anton Street and Pedder Street).
Past experience shows that the part of the procession route outside Sogo Department Store is particularly crowded. When the procession passes Sogo Department Store and Paterson Street, the road crossing zones will be closed for a certain period of time in order to ensure the smooth flow of the procession. Members of the public who wish to go across Yee Wo Street may use the nearby footbridge or the MTR passages.
Street stations
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Police appeal to organisations who are going to setup street stations for the purposes of fund-raising, selling or promotional activities to ensure that street stations and related activities will not cause any unreasonable obstruction to the procession, nor endanger the safety of the procession or other road users.
Public meeting in Central District
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In line with the request from the organiser, Entrance/Exit J1 of MTR Central Station will be closed while J2 and J3 will be used for entry only when the procession reaches the venue of the meeting in Central District.
When the public meeting areas are saturated, in order to ensure the safety of the public and participants, Police will implement appropriate control measures at the entrances/exits of MTR stations in the area of public meeting (including Entrances/Exits at E, F, H, K of MTR Central Station) according to the prevailing situation and when necessary.
In case the venue of the meeting in Central District [that is, including Chater Road Pedestrian Precinct, the section of Ice House Street between Chater Road and Des Voeux Road Central, Statue Square, eastbound and westbound vehicular lanes of Des Voeux Road Central between Jackson Road and Pedder Street (including eastbound and westbound tram lanes) and Chater Garden] nearly reach its capacity, the organiser and Police will call on those procession participants who are unable to enter the venue of the meeting to disperse in a western direction by proceeding along the southern pavement of Des Voeux Road Central and the pavement of Queen・s Road Central. (Diagram B)
Special Traffic Arrangements
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Starting 11am, the interchange between Hing Fat Street Carpark and Park Towers will be closed. From 1pm onwards, road closure will be implemented in phases in the vicinity of Victoria Pak including Causeway Bay shopping area. The roads concerned include Sugar Street, Great George Street, Kingston Street and Paterson Street. Southbound Gloucester Street will be closed depending on the prevailing circumstances.
Starting 2pm, road closure and traffic diversion will be implemented in phases on westbound Causeway Road, westbound Yee Wo Street, Jardine's Bazaar and westbound Hennessy Road.
Depending on the prevailing circumstances, Hing Fat Street will be closed if necessary.
According to the progress of the procession, from about 2.45pm onwards, the roads in the vicinity of Admiralty and Central and the location of the participants in the procession will be closed depending on the traffic conditions. They include the vicinities of Queensway and Des Voeux Road Central (up to Pedder Street). Road diversion will be implemented depending on the prevailing circumstances.
Police will direct traffic on major roads along the route of procession. Traffic enforcement measures will be implemented at Victoria Park・s Gate access to Causeway Road and the main junctions between Hennessy Road and Percival Street as well as Marsh Road and Fleming Road to ensure the smooth running of the procession. Motorists are advised to exercise patience.
This procession will use two sections of both eastbound and westbound tram lanes: the first section is a portion of Hennessy Road between Pennington Street and Heard Street and the second section starts with Hennessy Road near Anton Street and ends at the junction of Des Voeux Road Central and Pedder Street. Partial suspension of tram service will start shortly after 1pm.
Tram service will be provided between Kennedy Town and Western Market for the western districts, and between Shau Kei Wan and Tong Shui Road in North Point for the eastern districts. Service hours will depend on the progress of the procession.
Police expect that road closure will cause vehicles from Wan Chai, Admiralty and Central to gather at road sections of Wan Chai South and North. For the convenience of other road users, Police will allow vehicles to move through different road junctions according to the prevailing traffic conditions. Traffic diversions might affect traffic at Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, Admiralty, Central and even Aberdeen Tunnel and Cross Harbour Tunnel.
In addition, part of Queensway and roads in Central cannot be re-opened due to public activities. It is expected that traffic will be quite heavy in this area. Members of the public, if not absolutely necessary, are urged not go to these areas by car. Should they need to do so, please pay attention to radio announcements.
To facilitate the public meeting being held in Central, the following roads will be closed: Chater Road Pedestrian Precinct, Des Voeux Road Central (up to Pedder Street), Bank Street and Ice House Street between Queen・s Road Central and Connaught Road Central.
Owing to road closure, a total of 90 bus routes and 15 public light bus routes will be affected. Detailed information is available on the webpage of the Transport Department. Notices will be put up on buses and trams and at the affected bus and tram stops.
Police appeal to members of the public that longer journey time would be expected to go to the abovementioned areas. They are encouraged to make use of public transport.
Police Report No.145
Ends/Sunday, June 30, 2013
Issued at HKT 10:09
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