Kensington prevents Santa from holding up traffic

Kensington, P.E.I.'s Santa Claus parade this Sunday is shorter and is taking a different route.

Mayor Rowan Caseley says the town received feedback that the old route, which went along Highway 2 from Barrett Street to Sunset Drive, was holding up traffic between Charlottetown and Summerside.

So now the parade, which begins at 5 p.m., will travel up Broadway St. South and turn right at the Victoria Street lights instead of left, to avoid cutting off that route.

"You can imagine if you're travelling from Charlottetown to Summerside and get hung up there for … an hour sitting there," he said. "You wouldn't be as pleased as you would be if it's only 15 or 20 minutes."

The parade route is about half what it used to be, Caseley said, lasting 45 minutes while it was previously about an hour and a half.

Wait was too long

He said people who arrived early at the train station to meet Santa and see the tree lighting were often leaving because the wait was too long.

The Souris, P.E.I., parade, meanwhile, which takes place Saturday, has moved its start time from 1:30 to 2 p.m. to make sure traffic is cleared from the ferry to the Magdalen Islands before the festivities get underway.

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