KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) has outlined temporary traffic changes which will be implemented in downtown Kingston to facilitate its flagship event ‘Fireworks on the Waterfront’ slated for this Sunday.

Similar to prior stagings, the corporation said it has partnered with stakeholders such as the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation and the National Works Agency (NWA) to have the necessary traffic changes and road closures implemented to facilitate the seamless execution of the event.

Road closures and traffic changes will take effect as early as Friday at 10:00 pm and normalcy will return on Monday, January 1, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Starting 10:00 pm Friday, the intersection of Duke Street and south of Nethersole Place will be blocked as well as the intersection of Church Street and Ocean Boulevard.

Then on Saturday, commencing at 6:00 pm, the intersection of Princess Street and Ocean Boulevard through to the intersection of Orange Street and Ocean Boulevard will be blocked to vehicular traffic to facilitate the erection of tents.

Further traffic changes will be effected on Sunday from 6:00 am as access will be restricted on Ocean Boulevard/West Street at the intersections with Port Royal Street; Ocean Boulevard going westward before the intersection with Princess Street; Princess Street at the intersection of Port Royal Street and Ocean Boulevard; Orange Street below entrance to the multi-storey car park; and King Street below the entrance to KFC and entrance to South Street.

UDC said the event’s family experience starts with the ‘kiddies’ village at 3:00 pm, however, vehicles will have to abide by temporary rerouting measures.

Traffic entering Pechon Street to Ocean Boulevard onto Harbour Street will be redirected. The same applies to traffic entering Ocean Boulevard from Pechon Street onto West Street.

A two-way pattern of flow for traffic will be created on Church Street before the entrance to the Seabed ground floor car park as well as on West and Princess Streets below or south of Port Royal Street, Orange Street from Port Royal Street intersection to the multi-storey car park and from the intersection of Port Royal Street and Hanover Street, heading in a southern direction.

The UDC first staged fireworks on the Waterfront in 1999 to usher in the new millennium and was intended to be a one-off event.

However, the event has continued to ignite the interest of patrons making downtown Kingston the place to be annually on New Year’s Eve.