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March 10, 2015

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8m expected to hit the roads for Qingming

MORE than 8 million residents will head to cemeteries next month for the annual Qingming Festival, or the Tomb-Sweeping Day, with peak travel expected on April 5, the day of the festival, civil affairs authorities said yesterday.

The tomb-sweeping period will last from March 28 to April 6 this year when 810,000 vehicles are expected to hit the roads.

On April 5, which is a Sunday, 3.22 million people are expected to visit local cemeteries, with the peak hours from 8:30am to 10:30am, according to the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.

As a result, traffic congestion is expected on highways leading to cemeteries in Jiading, Qingpu, Fengxian, Baoshan districts and the Pudong New Area. The entrances and exits of the S2, S4, S5, G1501 and G50 highways will likely see the most serious congestion, traffic police said yesterday.

Some Metro stations of Line 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 16 leading to cemeteries will also see significant increase in traffic flow.

Last year, 8.3 million residents visited local cemeteries during the Qingming period from March 29 to April 7, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier. The number of vehicles was 805,200 — up 17.6 percent from 2013.

This year, an estimated record 8.51 million people will sweep tombs, the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau said yesterday. Cemeteries will take a number of measures including adding shuttle bus, setting up separate passages and conducting emergency drills to handle big crowds.

“Some cemeteries don’t have specific passages to disperse crowds and don’t have enough space, posing potential safety hazards,” said Zhou Jingbo, deputy director of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.

Lin Yi, manager of Binhaiguyuan Cemetery in Fengxian District, said one-way traffic will be imposed for its small-scale sea burial commemorative activity and emergency drill will be held before the festival. Real-time monitoring on the number of visitors will be conducted as well.


 

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