SINGAPORE: Several roads in the Central Business District will be closed to vehicles for this year’s Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2018 on New Year’s Eve, the police said on Wednesday (Dec 27).
The following roads will be affected for the countdown event on Sunday until early Monday morning:
Vehicles parked at car parks in the buildings located within the closed roads will not be able to exit the buildings during the period of road closures, police added in their press release.
Police also warned drivers not to park at peripheral roads or stop their vehicles along the Marina Coastal Expressway and East Coast Parkway (Benjamin Sheares Bridge) to watch the fireworks.
“Enforcement action will be taken against errant motorists who do so and vehicles which are parked causing obstruction will be towed,” police added.
Additionally, members of the public will not be allowed to congregate on the footways along Esplanade Bridge and Bayfront Avenue along Helix Bridge. The footway along Benjamin Sheares Bridge will also be closed to pedestrians from 5pm on Sunday to 2am on Monday.
More than 350,000 people are expected to turn up for Singapore’s largest New Year Countdown.
To prevent overcrowding, police and auxiliary police officers will be regulating the number of people entering the malls within the vicinity of Marina Bay.
Security personnel may conduct checks on bags and personal items.
Police also advised members of the public to be vigilant against “opportunists who may commit molest”.
“The public is also reminded not to engage in activities that may cause annoyance or compromise the safety of others,” police said, adding that flying of any unmanned aircraft including drones in the vicinity of the New Year Countdown events is strongly discouraged as it would “endanger the safety of the public”.
Police said they will not hesitate to take action against anyone who commits crime or creates a nuisance to the public.
They added that dispersal of the crowd after the countdown event is likely to be slow due to large crowds.
“Crowd control barricades and direction signs will be put up to facilitate safe and orderly dispersal … As heavy traffic and delays are expected, the understanding and cooperation from the public are much appreciated,” police said.
