Traffic restricted, Amer Fort closed as Vance visits today

Jaipur: Starting Tuesday morning, residents of Jaipur should prepare for significant traffic disruptions as US Vice President JD Vance and his family embark on a three-day visit to the city commencing late Monday night. The local police have implemented a series of traffic restrictions and diversions to facilitate the movement of the VVIP convoy, which will be touring several prominent tourist attractions and attending official events, mostly Tuesday.

The Vice President's itinerary includes visits to the historic Amer Fort and several tourist destinations in the Walled City. As a precautionary measure, the popular Amer Fort has been closed to tourists since Monday afternoon and will reopen Wednesday morning. After the visit to Amber Fort, Vance will attend his only public engagement in Jaipur at Rajasthan International Centre (RIC) at 3pm, where he will engage with industry leaders from the state and discuss trade and technology. On April 23, he will visit the Taj Mahal in Agra and return to Jaipur by afternoon, after which he is scheduled to visit the City Palace. The US Vice President and his family will fly back to the US from Jaipur at 6:30am on April 24.

Traffic restrictions will begin as early as 7am Tuesday on the Bhawani Singh Road from Ambedkar Circle till the JDA Circle and on the JLN Marg from JDA Circle till the New Gate on MI Road. Inside the Walled City, traffic movements would be restricted on the Chaura Rasta, Tripolia Bazar Road (from Chhoti Chaupar till Badi Chaupar), Johari Bazaar Road, Hawa Mahal Road and Amer Road.

Additional commissioner of police (traffic and administration) Yogesh Dadhich said that vehicular movement will be restricted 30 minutes before the convoy's departure from the hotel on the Bhawani Singh Road, with adjacent roads being closed 15 minutes prior to the convoy's arrival and departure. "These restrictions will be lifted immediately after the convoy passes through," Dadhich said.

Similarly, traffic police would initiate fresh sets of restrictions from Tuesday noon as the VVIPs would now take the same route to reach the hotel. Again, in the afternoon the convoy would head towards the RIC through Bhawani Singh Road and the JLN Marg via the JDA Circle.

Traffic restrictions will be particularly heavy from noon to 5pm Tuesday along JLN Marg, with authorities advising motorists to use alternative routes such as Tonk Road or Jhalana Bypass Road. Several schools along the VVIP convoy route are believed to have declared a holiday to minimise disruption.