Traffic alert: Expect delays around Bridgetown during CARIFESTA events

Motorists are being urged to take note of several road closures and traffic diversions that will be in effect from Friday, August 22, as Barbados hosts the opening ceremony of CARIFESTA XV and a series of related events.

Acting Inspector Ryan Brathwaite explained that from 1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Broad Street will be closed from its junction with Prince William Henry Street, extending past High Street onto Bridge Street, the Charles Duncan O’Neill Bridge, and Fairchild Street.

“There’ll also be a road closure from Nursery Drive direct to Marhill Hill Street… so there will be no traffic allowed across Crumpton Street. Across where Harrison College is located down to the bottom of Queen’s Park will be closed as well,” he said.

PSVs, minibuses, and Transport Board buses will still be allowed limited access to Queen’s Park for the ceremony, but those that normally use the River Terminal will have to enter via Nursery Drive.

Brathwaite added that access along Bay Street will also be restricted.

“If you’re coming from Upper Bay Street down to Lower Bay Street, there’ll be local access only after you have cleared the Jemmotts Lane junction…. [Normal] traffic will not be allowed to flow after Wellington Street,” he explained.

On Saturday, August 23, Broad Street will again be closed, this time between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

“You will have free access to drive into the city along Lower Bay Street, Wharf Road, and Fairchild Street,” Brathwaite said, “but you will not be able to make any right turns onto Broad Street.”

Additional traffic changes will affect areas around the Botanical Gardens during concerts and cultural activities. From Friday at 6 p.m., traffic on Station Hill will divert at Savannah Road. “You will only be able to make the left turn and follow the road on to Codrington out to Spooner’s Hill,” he explained.

On concert days – August 22, 23, 26, 27, 29, 30 and 31 – the road from the Clyde Walcott Roundabout to Combermere School will be one-way only. 

“If you come up Station Hill on non-concert days, you still must make that left turn by Savannah Road,” Brathwaite said, noting that PSVs, minibuses, taxis and buses will be allowed to use the routes as normal.

Urging the public to avoid unnecessary congestion, he added: “We want to appeal to the general public [that] if you don’t have any reason to be in the area, please don’t come and make it difficult for those people accessing the area for the purpose of the activities or their homes.”

Parking will be available at the QEH pasture for the parade at Queen’s Park, while a park-and-ride system will be in place for the super concerts from Queen’s College, the NCF, and the Wildey Gymnasium. Parking will also be available on Waterford Boulevard.

Brathwaite said that police officers will be stationed at key points to assist motorists: “We know that it will be an inconvenience, and we will do everything in our power to make travelling in these areas as easy as possible.” (SB)