********************************************************
Police will implement crowd safety management measures and special traffic arrangements to facilitate the holding of public meeting and processions in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Central on July 1.
The public order event consists of two parts, namely, the public meeting in Victoria Park (the Park) and the public procession heading for Central.
Crowd safety management measures
--------------------------------------------
A. Arrangement for public meeting in Victoria Park
The public meeting will be held between 2pm and 3pm at the six football pitches and Central Lawn in the Park.
For the arrangements for participants entering the Park: Members of the public who wish to get access to the Park from Tin Hau are advised to enter through Gate 14 at Hing Fat Street; while those from Causeway Bay are advised to use Gate 6 near Sugar Street or Gate 7 at Great George Street.
Football pitch No. 6 is reserved by the organiser for invited groups and guests. Other participants who wish to enter the Park are advised to go to football pitches Nos. 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 in sequence to await the start of the procession. When the six football pitches are fully packed with participants, latecomers for the event may gather at the Central Lawn to await setting off the procession.
Police and the organiser will adopt a principle of 䩕First come, First go蒅 in order to ensure the procession can set off from the Park orderly and in sequence.
B. Setting off arrangement and starting time of the procession
According to the condition of the Letter of No Objection, the procession is to commence at 3pm or when participants for the meeting and those awaiting for the procession have occupied about 85 per cent of the area of the six football pitches in the Park, whichever is earlier.
When the procession begins to set off, participants at football pitch No. 6 will lead the procession to leave the Park via Gate 16, cross the road to westbound Causeway Road and start the procession. After the participants at football pitch No.6 have left, participants at football pitch No. 5 will follow to leave the Park via Gate 16. Once the persons at football pitches Nos. 6 and 5 have left the Park, the other participants will then leave the Park through Gate 17 (See diagram A and B).
In anticipation of a large number of participants by the organiser, Police urged the event marshals to work with Police to facilitate the arriving crowd getting access to the venue for the meeting and the procession in order. Participants are advised to be patient and adhere to the arrangements made by the organiser and instructions given by Police on site.
C. Arrangements for the procession route
The procession moves along Causeway Road (westbound carriageway), Leighton Road (westbound carriageway), Irving Street (westbound carriageway), Pennington Street (northbound carriageway), Yee Wo Street (westbound carriageway), Hennessy Road (westbound carriageway), Queensway (westbound carriageway), across Queensway to enter into Rodney Street (southbound carriageway), via Harcourt Road (westbound carriageway), U-turn at Far East Finance Centre to Harcourt Road (eastbound carriageway), turn to the destination of the procession at the northern pavement of Harcourt Road outside the Central Government Offices.
Taking into consideration of the safety of the participants and members of the public, as well as the right of other road users, Police will only arrange the procession to proceed along the westbound carriageways of the above procession route as well as the eastbound and westbound tramways. The eastbound carriageways of Causeway Road, Yee Wo Street, Hennessy Road and Queensway will be reserved for use by emergency vehicles and other road users.
In response to the organiser﷿s request and to ensure the smooth running of the procession, the tram rail along the procession route after Pennington Street will be opened for the procession when the organiser﷿s leading vehicle has passed through the road crossing zone outside SOGO Department Store.
Participants upon arriving Central may leave by proceeding along the northern pavement of Harcourt Road to Wan Chai or Admiralty direction (See diagram C).
According to the arrangement of the organiser, there will be no public meeting held at the finishing point and the participants will disperse at the finishing point. Police will request the organiser to call upon participants to disperse in an orderly manner when the event ends. If the participants try to engage into illegal occupation of roads, Police will request the organiser to appeal to those related people to stop their illegal act.
D. Arrangements for the road crossing zones outside Sogo Department Store and at Paterson Street
The road crossing zones outside Sogo Department Store and at Paterson Street will be closed. According to experience, a huge number of procession participants jammed in the main procession departing from the Park by crossing Yee Wo Street at those two road crossing zones, thereby causing serious obstruction and delay to the main procession. It also affected the traffic flow at the eastbound carriageway which is reserved for the use by emergency vehicles, posing serious risks to public safety and public order. Thus, those two road crossing zones will be temporarily closed during the procession. Police appeal to the procession participants not to jam in the procession at these two road crossing zones.
Members of the public who wish to cross these two road crossings may use Percival Street Footbridge and Sugar Street Footbridge or the subway of MTR Causeway Bay Station. The Police will make special arrangements at the road crossing zone at Paterson Street for people who have special needs, such as the elderly and wheelchair-bound persons, to facilitate them to cross the road.
E. Arrangements for street stations
Those wishing to set up street stations should apply for the relevant licences from the concerned government departments as soon as possible. In addition, when setting up street stations, the organisations should make sure that their street stations will not cause unreasonable obstruction to the procession, nor endanger the safety of the procession or other road users.
F. Illegal Activities
The Police call upon the participants not to engage in any activities that may put the public order and public safety at risk, otherwise Police may take appropriate measures. Police reiterate to take resolute actions against any acts in contravention of the law and take effective measures to restore public order.
Meanwhile, Independent Police Complaints Council will conduct on-site observation on the events.
G. Special Appeal
Furthermore, Police notice from the public media that individual groups have claimed that they will organise some public activities in Western District in the evening of July 1, 2016. Such groups have records of aggressive activities. Police have tried to contact the concerning groups, but have failed to reach them, hence could not get the relevant information from them to assist the relevant activities. It has been and will continue to be the Force﷿s policy to endeavor to facilitate, as far as possible, all lawful public order events. At the same time, we have the responsibility to preserve public safety and public order, and to protect the rights of other citizens.
Police appeal to all members of the public that if they wish to organise any public order event on July 1, 2016, they should notify Police according to the law and co-operate with Police, so that Police can facilitate them to organise the public order event in a lawful and safe manner.
Police will not tolerate any illegal acts, or any acts endangering public order and public safety. Police appeal to all members of the public to express their views in a peaceful and lawful manner. Police will take resolute and effective actions against any illegal acts or breach of peace behaviour so as to preserve public order and public safety. Police wish event participants will follow police instructions and avoid confusing situations when Police officers are taking enforcement actions. Police appeal to the concerned persons not to violate the law.
Special traffic arrangements
----------------------------
A. Road closure
The following roads will be closed from 1.30pm or when necessary:
- The u-turn slip road between southbound and northbound Gloucester Road (near the junction with Sugar Street);
- Sugar Street;
- If necessary, Great George Street;
- If necessary, Paterson Street;
- If necessary, Kingston Street;
- If necessary, Southbound Gloucester Road between Victoria Park Road flyover and Causeway Road; and
- If necessary, Cleveland Street.
The following roads will be closed from 2.15pm or when necessary:
- Jardine's Bazaar;
- Tang Lung Street;
- Canal Road East between Russell Street and Hennessy Road;
- Canal Road West between Sharp Street West and Hennessy Road;
- Wan Chai Road between Canal Road West and Morrison Hill Road; and
- Bowrington Road between Sharp Street West and Hennessy Road.
The following roads will be closed from 2.30pm or when necessary:
- Westbound Causeway Road;
- Moreton Terrace;
- Shelter Street;
- The slip road leading from eastbound Yee Wo Street to westbound Causeway Road;
- Irving Street;
- Pennington Street between Keswick Street and Yee Wo Street;
- If necessary, the slip road leading from westbound Leighton Road to Pennington Street;
- Westbound Yee Wo Street;
- Westbound Hennessy Road;
- Lee Garden Road between Kai Chiu Road and Hennessy Road;
- Kai Chiu Road;
- Yun Ping Road between Lan Fong Road and Kai Chiu Road;
- The slip road leading from eastbound Johnston Road to westbound Hennessy Road;
- Thomson Road between Johnston Road and Luard Road;
- Luard Road between Johnston Road and Hennessy Road;
- Fenwick Street between Hennessy Road and Johnston Road;
- Westbound Johnston Road between Ship Street and Landale Street; and
- Eastbound Johnston Road between Fenwick Street and Hennessy Road.
The following roads will be closed from 3.30pm or when necessary:
- Westbound Queensway between Queen﷿s Road East and Rodney Street;
- Eastbound Queensway;
- Westbound Harcourt Road between Harcourt Garden car park exit and Cotton Tree Drive;
- Southbound Tim Wa Avenue, except vehicles heading for the Chief Executive﷿s Office and Central Government Offices car park;
- Southbound Edinburgh Place between Lung Wo Road and Connaught Road Central;
- Rodney Street;
- Drake Street;
- Tamar Street;
- Southbound Cotton Tree Drive slip road leading to eastbound Queensway;
- If necessary, southbound Cotton Tree Drive between westbound Harcourt Road and Queensway;
- Northbound Garden Road flyover leading to eastbound Queensway;
- If necessary, northbound Garden Road slip road leading to northbound Cotton Tree Drive;
- First and second right lane of Murray Road between Lambeth Walk and Queensway;
- Eastbound Des Voeux Road Central between Pedder Street and Queensway; and
- Northbound Ice House Street between Queen﷿s Road Central and Des Voeux Road Central.
The following roads will be closed when necessary:
- Yacht Street;
- Lau Li Street between Ngan Mok Street and Hing Fat Street;
- Electric Road between Lau Sin Street and Tsing Fung Street;
- Lau Sin Street west of King﷿s Road;
- Hing Fat Street between Causeway Road and Lau Sin Street;
- Northbound Tai Hang Road flyover; and
- Southbound Percival Street between Gloucester Road and Lockhart Road.
B. Traffic diversions
The following traffic diversions will be implemented from 1.30pm or when necessary:
- Traffic along southbound Gloucester Road cannot turn right to the u-turn slip road leading to northbound Gloucester Road;
- Traffic along eastbound Yee Wo Street cannot turn left to Sugar Street;
- If necessary, traffic along northbound Tai Hang Road flyover cannot turn left to westbound Kingston Street;
- If necessary, traffic along southbound Victoria Park Road cannot turn to Cleveland Street;
- If necessary, traffic along southbound Paterson Street must turn left to eastbound Kingston Street;
- If necessary, traffic along southbound Cleveland Street cannot turn right to westbound Kingston Street;
- If necessary, traffic along westbound Gloucester Road service road cannot turn left to Paterson Street and southbound Cleveland Street; and
- If necessary, traffic along southbound Victoria Park Road flyover must turn right to westbound Gloucester Road service road.
The following traffic diversions will be implemented from 2.15pm or when necessary:
- Traffic along northbound Pennington Street cannot turn left to Jardine's Bazaar;
- Traffic along westbound Hennessy Road cannot turn left to southbound Canal Road East;
- Traffic along westbound Russell Street must turn left at the junction with Canal Road East;
- Traffic along northbound Canal Road West near the junction with 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 cannot turn left to northbound Bowrington Road;
- Traffic along northbound Bowrington Road must turn right to eastbound Sharp Street West; and
- Traffic along eastbound Wan Chai Road must turn right to southbound Morrison Hill Road.
The following traffic diversions will be implemented from 2.30pm or when necessary:
- Traffic from westbound King's Road must turn left to southbound Tung Lo Wan Road or turn right to northbound Hing Fat Street;
- Traffic along eastbound Tung Lo Wan Road between Moreton Terrace and southbound Tung Lo Wan Road will be re-routed to westbound;
- Traffic along westbound Tung Lo Wan Road cannot enter Moreton Terrace;
- Traffic along westbound Tung Lo Wan Road east of Moreton Terrace can turn to the re-routed westbound Tung Lo Wan Road;
- Traffic along southbound Tung Lo Wan Road cannot turn left to the re-routed westbound Tung Lo Wan Road;
- Traffic along eastbound Yee Wo Street cannot turn right to southbound Tung Lo Wan Road or westbound Leighton Road;
- Traffic along northbound Tung Lo Wan Road cannot enter Irving Street and must turn left to westbound Leighton Road;
- Traffic along northbound Pennington Street must turn right to Keswick Street;
- If necessary, traffic along westbound Leighton Road cannot turn right to northbound Pennington Street;
- Traffic along northbound Yun Ping Road must turn left to westbound Lan Fong Road;
- Traffic along westbound Leighton Road must turn left to Wong Nai Chung Road, except franchised bus;
- Traffic along Percival Street will be diverted to Lockhart Road or eastbound Hennessy Road;
- Traffic along northbound Tin Lok Lane cannot turn left to westbound Hennessy Road;
- Traffic along southbound Stewart Road cannot turn right to westbound Hennessy Road;
- Traffic along eastbound Johnston Road cannot turn left to westbound Hennessy Road;
- Traffic along southbound Fleming Road cannot turn right to westbound Hennessy Road;
- Traffic along northbound Fleming Road cannot turn left to westbound Hennessy Road;
- Traffic along southbound Fenwick Street must turn left to eastbound Hennessy Road;
- Traffic along eastbound Hennessy Road cannot turn right to southbound Fenwick Street;
- Traffic along northbound Tai Wong Street East must turn right to eastbound Johnston Road;
- Traffic along westbound Johnston Road cannot turn right to Thomson Road;
- Traffic along eastbound Johnston Road cannot turn left to Thomson Road;
- Traffic along eastbound Johnston Road cannot turn left to northbound Luard Road;
- Traffic along westbound Johnston Road cannot turn right to northbound Luard Road;
- Traffic along westbound Johnston Road must turn left to southbound Ship Street;
- Traffic along northbound Lun Fat Street must turn right to eastbound Johnston Road; and
- Traffic along westbound Johnston Road must turn left to southbound Anton Street.
The following traffic diversions will be implemented from 3.30pm or when necessary:
- Traffic along westbound Queen﷿s Road East must enter southbound Justice Drive;
- Traffic along eastbound Des Voeux Road Central must turn left to northbound Pedder Street;
- Traffic along westbound Queen﷿s Road Central cannot turn right to northbound Ice House Street;
- Traffic along northbound Ice House Street must turn left to westbound Queen﷿s Road Central;
- Traffic along southbound Murray Road cannot turn to eastbound Queensway;
- Traffic along Garden Road flyover cannot turn to eastbound Queensway;
- Traffic along westbound Harcourt Road near Harcourt Garden car park exit will be diverted to westbound Harcourt Road flyover;
- If necessary, traffic along southbound Cotton Tree Drive will be diverted to up-ramp leading to southbound Cotton Tree Drive flyover, except franchised bus;
- If necessary, traffic along Lung Wo Road cannot enter Tim Wa Avenue, except vehicles heading for the Chief Executive﷿s Office and Central Government Offices car park; and
- If necessary, traffic along Lung Wo Road cannot enter southbound Edinburgh Place.
The following traffic diversions will be implemented when necessary:
- Traffic along northbound Tai Hang Road flyover must go straight to northbound Victoria Park Road flyover leading to westbound Gloucester Road;
- Traffic along westbound Gloucester Road service road cannot turn left to southbound Percival Street;
- Traffic along eastbound Causeway Road cannot turn left to northbound Hing Fat Street; and
- Traffic along westbound King's Road cannot turn right to northbound Hing Fat Street.
C. Suspension of on-street parking spaces
All metered and non-metered on-street parking spaces along Tung Lo Wan Road will be suspended from noon until the crowd has dispersed and the roads are re-opened.
All on-street parking spaces, motorcycle parking spaces and disabled parking spaces at eastbound Lung Wui Road opposite to CITIC Tower will be suspended from noon to 11.59 pm.
D. Suspension of car parks
Parking spaces of Hing Fat Street Car Park will be suspended from 10.30am until the crowd has dispersed and the roads are re-opened, except the disabled parking spaces.
All public and private car parks along the closed roads may be suspended from 2.30pm until the crowd has dispersed and the roads are re-opened. During road closure period, vehicles may not be allowed to enter or leave car parks on the closed roads.
Actual implementation of the crowd safety management measures and traffic arrangements will be made depending on traffic and crowd conditions in the areas. Members of the public are advised to exercise tolerance and patience and take heed of instructions of the Police on site.
Ends/Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:43
NNNN