Be Prepared: Tow Zones, New Traffic Route for Fairfield's Fireworks

The Fairfield Police Department has released the following information regarding parking near the beach the evening of July 4, when the town will launch its fireworks display (with a rain date of Friday, July 5):

In the interest of public safety, the streets listed below will be posted with "No Parking Tow-Away" signs on Thursday, July 4. Any vehicles parked in the designated tow zone areas after 6 p.m. on July 4 will be towed at the owner's expense.

This is necessary action to provide access to the beach area for fire apparatus and other emergency vehicles and to facilitate the movement of the anticipated large volume of traffics.

Streets to be posted:

• Reef Road
• Penfield Road
• Lalley Boulevard
• Rowland Road
• One Rod Highway
• Edwards Street
• South Benson Road
• Portions of Fairfield Beach Road

All streets in the beach area will be strictly enforced for parking violations and cars in violation will be towed at the owner's expense.

At the start of the fireworks, at approximately 9:15 p.m., streets leading from the beach area will be "one way" to the Post Road and NO TRAFFIC will be permitted to go south into the beach area until exiting traffic has cleared. This time may vary slightly due to the starting time of the fireworks display. Typically, the streets are closed 15 minutes after the start of the fireworks.

In addition, Rowland Road will be closed to all traffic to allow access for emergency vehicles if needed.

There will be a different traffic plan this year:

At the end of the fireworks no vehicles leaving the beach area will be able to turn onto Old Post or Old Field roads.

All vehicles must proceed to the Post Road. Cars using Reef Road will be directed to turn westbound on Post Road. Vehicles on South Benson Road will be able to turn right (eastbound) onto Post Road or go straight onto North Benson Road. Cars using Beach Road or Unquowa Road will be directed across the Post Road and cannot turn onto Post Road in either direction.

This is to reduce the cross traffic and make it safer for pedestrians to allow for quicker clearance of the beach area.

No fireworks of any kind, including sparklers, are allowed on any of the beaches or parking areas. Alcohol is also not permitted on town parks or beaches. Police will be strictly monitoring the beach areas for violations.