Downtown Santa Maria will see road closures and traffic detours Saturday afternoon and night, Dec. 6, due to the annual Christmas Parade of Lights along Broadway (Highway 135) from Enos Drive almost to Main Street (Highway 166), the city has announced.

• The parade is scheduled to start at 5:20 p.m. at the corner of Stowell Road and Broadway, rain or shine, according to organizers, the Rotary Clubs of Santa Maria and Nipomo. A map of the parade route and sponsors is at https://smparadeoflights.org.

• Stowell Road from Broadway to Depot Street will be closed starting at 3 p.m. to allow parade entrants to queue up and make final preparations.

• Broadway will be closed to traffic from Enos Drive north to Main Street starting at 4 p.m.

The parade’s ending location is slightly shorter this year due to redevelopment in and near the former Sears parking lot at the corner of Broadway and Main (Highways 135 and 166).

In past years, a couple thousand spectators viewed the parade there as the floats made the corner and turned into the parking lot to disassemble and drop off participants.

New this year, parade entries/floats will disassemble and drop off participants on South Broadway between the pedestrian bridge near Macy’s to Town Center East and the corner of Main.

The Town Center West parking structure can still be accessed, and parents are encouraged to park there to pickup children and/or parade participants. The city will keep the traffic light signals on cycle to allow a smoother traffic flow.

Signage will be in place notifying the public of this road closure. In case of emergency, Santa Maria Police officers will be posted at Cook and Jones streets to allow crossing of Broadway. Santa Maria Park Rangers also will be assisting with the event.