The purpose of traffic control for special events is to ensure public safety by controlling pedestrian and vehicle movements in and around the event. However, even traffic control personnel sometimes experience challenges at special events because most people adhere to traffic control arrangements on public roads, but many become difficult if they cannot walk, drive or park wherever they want to at a special event.
In this article, we’ll have a look at important aspects to attend to regarding traffic control before, during and after the special event.
Pre-Event Planning
Pre-event planning is important for effective traffic control during events. To decide how and where the traffic control will have to be implemented, assessments have to be done onsite. The layout of the area and the normal pedestrian and vehicle movement have to be observed and taken into account during the actual compiling of the traffic control plan for the specific event.
Designing the Traffic Management Plan
To ensure that the planned event traffic control plan will be viable, the traffic control company, such as the UVS Group, which has been contracted for the task must before the event discuss road closures, detours, collaboration with local authorities and parking arrangements with all stakeholders.
Coordination with Stakeholders
Every stakeholder must as part of the traffic management for events know before the event what will be its responsibilities during the event. Arrangements must also be made that during the event there is effective communication between stakeholders and sections such as
- the traffic control personnel among themselves,
- the traffic control personnel and their office,
- the traffic control company and local law enforcement and emergency services.
Traffic Control Measures
During the event, different traffic control measures will be employed and it is essential to plan that everything that will be needed will be available. The most important aspects to arrange include
- enough trained traffic personnel to manage intersections and pedestrian crossings,
- marking of parking spaces, and
- enough and the correct traffic signs and barricades.
Crowd Management Arrangements
Usually, there are great crowds at special events and therefore the traffic control plan must provide for safe pedestrian flow. These plans must include the creation of designated pedestrian pathways and clear notice boards with instructions on where to walk and where to find places like toilets.
Monitoring and Adaptation
During the event itself, all stakeholders must monitor the aspects they are responsible for. The traffic control plan must be flexible so that it can be adapted when circumstances change during the event. With technology, such as CCTV, all the aspects of the event can be monitored and traffic control measures can be altered immediately based on real-time observations.
Post-Event Evaluation
After the completion of an event, an evaluation is essential. During this evaluation, the successes and the less successful aspects of traffic control during the event are discussed. The lessons learned during the event will be incorporated into future traffic management event plans.
