NEWPORT BEACH : Police May Close Off Western Part of City
If large crowds inundate west Newport Beach today for the Fourth of July, the Newport Beach Police Department will close off much of the area to inbound traffic this afternoon and keep it shut down through early Thursday morning.
The area that may be closed is bounded by Coast Highway, the western part of Balboa Boulevard, Prospect Street, 32nd Street and the beach. No traffic bound for that area would be allowed on the streets between 4 p.m. today and 3 a.m. Thursday. This area includes Seashore Drive and the eastbound lanes of West Balboa Boulevard, according to Lt. Tim Newman, a spokesman for the Police Department. If the barricades are put up, residents will be allowed to get to their homes, but only on foot.
The barricades will go up “if it looks like traffic gets so heavy that emergency vehicles would have serious trouble getting through,” said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Gene Senecal.
“In other words, if it becomes a parking lot,” he said.
He said that traffic officers would monitor both pedestrian and street traffic to determine whether there is a chance that vehicles would be blocked later in the afternoon either entering or leaving the peninsula.
“They just assess it as it begins to develop,” he said.
To cope with parties, fireworks and alcohol-related problems, more than 150 officers will be on duty on the holiday, working 12-hour shifts.
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