GISBORNE - Gridlock looms as the most likely major issue facing Operation First Light, the police programme to handle Gisborne's millennium celebrations.
As part of the planning, fire trucks and ambulances will be stationed in the winding Waioeka Gorge and police motorbikes and helicopters placed on standby to copewith traffic incidents on the road to Gisborne.
Detective Peter Brown of the Gisborne police millennium planning unit said Operation First Light officers were preparing for 100,000 visitors to the city between December 20 and January 9.
Over the period the East Coast policing squad of just over 100 officers will be boosted by 140 extra police, mainly from Wellington and the Bay of Plenty.
The operation began in September and police have contingency plans in place for everything from bomb alerts to traffic gridlock.
Emergency services and Opotiki and Whakatane police, including 10 additional staff from Rotorua and Taupo, will be stationed throughout the 50km Waioeka Gorge from December 26.
Detective Brown said the one thing police could not plan for was unprepared motorists.
He said six police motorcycles and 10 civilian helicopters would be on standby in Gisborne in case of serious accidents.
The Gisborne District Council is set to run a series of television advertisements warning drivers travelling to the East Coast to take care of the basics such as filling their cars with fuel and water.
A police Website set up for the millennium warns drivers of the rugged State Highway 2 which leads to Gisborne from Wairoa in the south and from Opotiki, through the narrow Waioeka Gorge, in the north.
"We are talking about roads from hell in isolated country and the police are very conscious that the most minor breakdown could well lead to utter chaos," Detective Brown said.
Motorists needed to realise there were no petrol stations after Opotiki and only limited fuel stops from Wairoa.
The 240 police stationed around the East Coast for the millennium have received revisional training in self-defence, firearms and pepper spray in case riots break out.
Detective Brown said everyone had been cooperative, especially liquor outlets, which were planning to run specials on canned beer to cut down on bottles over New Year.
