PAGE — The city plans to implement the same routine it executed last year for the Independence Day fireworks show put on each year at Lake Powell National Golf Course.

In a city planning meeting held June 24, the Page Police Department explained its plans to regulate traffic during and after the fireworks show. According to Capt. Ray Varner, U.S. 89 will be blocked off between the two junctions of Lake Powell Boulevard at approximately 8:45 p.m. Any highway traffic will be rerouted up the mesa. No parking will be allowed on the highway per state law.

South Lake Powell Boulevard will be closed at the Kaibab Road intersection. Traffic heading westbound will be rerouted onto Kaibab and detoured at Haul Road.

Scenic View Drive will be made into a one-way street prior to the show, where vehicles can park facing south. Once that road is filled, it will be closed for the duration of the fireworks, which are scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.

“We’ll have two officers right there, so they’ll be funneling everybody through on Scenic View,” Varner said. “At the end of Scenic View, we’ll have an officer there that, when the time comes for Scenic View to be flushed out, they’ll have to all turn right when they come out to (U.S.) 89.”

At the end of the show, Lake Powell Boulevard will also be made into a one-way street at the highway junctions, heading eastbound. The south junction will become a two-way street at Kaibab Road. The north junction stops being one-way around North Navajo Drive, where an officer will move traffic through in order to avoid congestion caused by the traffic signal.

“We used to block off the whole road in front of Bashas’ so that all of the lanes go into town, but no one would go into those (westbound) lanes. It was not natural,” Varner said.

The westbound lanes on Lake Powell Boulevard will be used for emergency vehicles to get down to U.S. 89 if needed. Varner explained that completely closing it off made it difficult for police vehicles to reach the highway in an emergency.

The plan has worked very well, Varner said. Last year, Page P.D. was able to open up the roads to regular traffic again in 31 minutes due to the efficiency of rerouting people.

“That’s coming from the dam area, from everywhere (and) including the tractor trailers,” he said. “It seems kind of confusing, but to clear all that traffic in 31 minutes is really great.”

Page P.D. will have every officer in its department out on the street for the event, and as the phone calls ease up, officers will be allowed to disperse for the night. There will be bike patrol officers to access the areas that cruisers cannot, Varner noted. Also, one officer will be on the golf course in a cart to patrol during and after the show.

The launch site for the fireworks will be located near the Rimview Trail, where South Navajo Drive becomes North Navajo Drive. Only the fireworks handler and his staff, who will be wearing access identification, will be allowed in that area while the fireworks are being set up and launched.

Most of the golf course will be open to people who want to watch the show. However, holes 1, 9, 17 and 18 will be closed due to their proximity to the launch site The area will be taped off and watched over by golf course staff, according to Lake Powell National manager Johnny Miles.

“It has gone really smoothly the last three years. It works out really well,” he said.

Miles made a request that people who watch the show from the golf course remember to take their trash with them when they leave.

“That’s the toughest job I have, cleaning up the trash,” he said.

Also, anyone planning to bring their own alcohol to the golf course should think again. Golf course staff will be monitoring the area and confiscate any imported booze. However, anyone of legal age can purchase alcoholic beverages from the clubhouse. Miles explained that the reason alcohol cannot be brought in from the outside is that Lake Powell National’s liquor license forbids it.

“They can bring their own pop. They can bring their own water, but it’s in violation of our liquor license if they actually bring alcohol on the golf course,” Miles said. “It’s our job to monitor as best we can. Each year, we have to confiscate some.”

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