Roads closed downtown for vendors' Xmas break

Several roads in downtown Kingston will be closed to vehicular traffic effective today, as the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) attempts to make it easier for vendors and shoppers in the lead-up to Christmas.

Parking restriction will also be relaxed while streetside vendors will be allowed to peddle their wares without the usual strict rules being imposed by the police.

"Downtown Kingston is open for business this Christmas and the KSAC is doing everything to make the experience a pleasant one," Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie declared recently.

McKenzie was addressing members of the media on Saturday, days after an estimated 35,000 people streamed through the busy commercial centre on a shopping spree dubbed 'Christmas in the City'.

Tremendous potential

He noted that the shopping day, which started at 8:30 Wednesday morning and ended in the early hours of Thursday morning, was incident free.

"That showed that people want to come back to downtown Kingston and the tremendous potential of the city," McKenzie added.

He argued that, with the expected influx of shoppers, it would be necessary to close sections of some roads to vehicular traffic.

The roads to be closed include Beckford Street from West Street to Princess Street, and Pechon Street from Beckford Street to the intersection of Spanish Town Road and West Queen Street.

A section of West Street will also be closed to vehicular traffic.

However, the major roadways of King Street, Orange Street, Duke Street and Princess Street will not be closed.

The roads will remain closed to vehicular traffic until Friday.