ASP Ellis says final plans are in place to manage the flow of city traffic as events kick off tonight at Carnival City

The Police have finalized traffic-management plans for this year’s Carnival festivities, starting with this weekend’s T-shirt Mas’ jump-up.

The first big show for the annual festival – a band-meet-band event – takes place tonight at the Antigua Recreation Grounds, which will be branded Carnival City until the end of the celebrations.

Accordingly, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rodney Ellis, Head of the Traffic Department, says there will be a disruption to the flow of traffic around Carnival City, which is customary at this time of year.

For Saturday’s T-shirt Mas,’ which is expected to attract hundreds of revelers, Ellis says parking will be restricted on certain streets in St. John’s until 11p.m.

He advises that there should be no parking on Redcliffe Street or High Street, since this is the route for the event. No-parking signs will be erected along the route, and those who fail to follow the directives will have their vehicles towed, Ellis warns.

The Traffic Head says that officers will be deployed in the City early Saturday morning, July 23, to prevent motorists from parking along the route, since many people going to work will want to park as close as possible to their jobs.

Ellis also issued a warning to alcohol-consuming revelers who will be driving.

Originally, the Ministry of Creative Industries had announced that most of the street events would be taken outside the City and up to the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, and had even staged a dry run to demonstrate the route.

However, that decision prompted a great deal of negative feedback in some quarters, and the Cabinet eventually decided to reverse it.