The Selma Police Department is gearing up for a large crowd for this weekend’s Bridge Crossing Jubilee.

Police Chief John Brock said every officer is scheduled to work this weekend. There will also be several road closures.

On Thursday, Washington Street will be closed from 3:30-8 p.m. outside the Carl Morgan Convention Center for the city of Selma’s Welcome Reception.

On Friday, the Edmund Pettus Bridge will be closed from noon until 1 p.m. for a children’s march.

On Saturday, portions of Broad Street, Alabama Avenue and Washington Street will be closed for the Bridge Crossing Jubilee Parade. The parade will begin at 9 a.m. outside Selma High School.

The parade will go south on Broad Street, turn onto Alabama Avenue toward Washington Street and then return to the high school via Washington Street.

Brock said the roads will reopen behind the parade as it progresses down the route.

On Sunday, the bridge will be closed from 1 – 6 p.m.

Starting 1 p.m., the police department will begin closing off roads around the bridge for the annual bridge crossing reenactment. The closures will begin at Brown Chapel AME Church on Martin Luther King Street and continue down Alabama Avenue to Broad Street and down Broad Street toward the bridge.

Brock advises people to avoid these areas, unless participating in the events, and to use the bypass as much as possible to help reduce traffic downtown.

“The 10-day forecast says it’s going to be a pretty day… so we’re expecting a pretty good-sized crowd,” Brock said.

He said the crowd attendance is heavily dependent on the weather since this year isn’t a milestone anniversary.

“We’ve got some congressmen and senators coming in from Washington but it ain’t busloads,” he said.

The department is anticipating somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people to attend Sunday’s march.

“Everybody’s working. Nobody is off,” Brock said.

He said every year the department budgets overtime for large events such as the annual jubilee as well as The Battle of Selma and the Fourth of July.

“It’s going to cost $20,000 plus for overtime just for the police department this year,” Brock said.

Brock reminds everybody to be safe and thoughtful during the festivities this weekend because of the amount of people in town. He also asks for people to be patient with traffic and road closures.

“Be courteous, kind, [and help] keep the city clean,” he said. “Just be patient with us, especially with the closures. That’s just part of it, so just be patient.”