The dark side of the gig / Massive traffic jams expected for tonight's Roger Waters concert

The concert by former Pink Floyd soloist Roger Waters is expected to cause massive traffic jams tonight on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway and Route 3 between the Latrun and Nahshon intersections.

About 20,000 vehicles are expected to try to reach the concert venue near Neveh Shalom on a road that has between two and four lanes.

Jerusalem Police and national traffic police will deploy unprecedented forces to cope with the extraordinarily heavy traffic burden. A total of 950 police officers and 600 security guards and ushers are to maintain security at the concert, while 180 police officers and 200 parking attendants will direct traffic in the area.

"It is possible that at some point we will decide to direct vehicles against the normal traffic patterns in order to ease the burden," one source said.

"We recommend that drivers remain patient and leave early to attend the concert. Drivers coming from the Tel Aviv area are advised to leave as early as 4 or 5 P.M. The official concert will begin at 8:45 P.M., but opening acts will begin as early as 6 P.M," said Police Commander Tzion Shai, an officer in the special missions division of the Jerusalem police force.

Police predict that 45,000 people will attend the concert.

"We recommend that drivers who are not attending the concert make use of alternate routes, like Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway 443 or Route 44 from Kiryat Gat to the Beit Jubrin intersection, and proceed to Jerusalem from there," Shai said.

The Jerusalem Police also recommends that concertgoers wear flat shoes in order to avoid slipping on the furrowed earth at the site.

Waters yesterday visited the site of the separation barrier near the West Bank town of Bethlehem, where he spray-painted the words "No Thought Control." Waters wrote slogans on the wall in protest against the construction of the barrier, which Palestinians say is a land grab and Israel says is necessary for its security.