Hundreds of Hells Angels members and other bikers gathered in Newmarket today before riding out on a memorial procession down Highway 404.
The bikers congregated in a parking lot on Twinney Drive, in the area of Davis Drive and Harry Walker Parkway South, beginning at about 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 21.
At that same time, York Regional Police set up vehicles and officers in the area to control traffic and limit the flow of vehicles to the area where the gathering was occurring.
“York Regional Police is aware that a large gathering of Hells Angels motorcycle gang members and their associates are meeting in Newmarket this morning,” Const. Amy Boudreau said.
The day before, police had advised residents to avoid the area between Leslie Street, Stackhouse Road, Davis Drive and Harry Walker Parkway. However, businesses in that space remained open, meaning workers and local residents would need to travel down those streets.
“Our main goal today is to make sure that they reach their destination safely if they have to be in the area, working in that area,” Boudreau said.
Officers stationed at the intersection of Davis and Harry Walker were restricting traffic heading south and stopping some vehicles to ask why they needed to go down the street before letting them through. Motorcycles were allowed to pass by.
Over a span of two hours, riders continued to arrive in the area, with some stopping to fill up on gas at Petro Canada before joining the group. Police said they were expecting up to 1,000 bikers to attend.
“Any large gathering of people or vehicles that large is obviously going to cause risk to public safety and that’s why we’re here today,” Boudreau said.
She said officers from the force’s crowd management and public safety teams were stationed in the area but added there was no immediate threat to public safety.
“We don’t anticipate any issues at this time but we will be monitoring and we have the appropriate resources available if necessary. We will continue again to focus on our residents that are moving through that area for their safety,” she said.
A number of community members lined the streets of Harry Walker and Davis to watch the bikers ride through and to take photos of them. The crowd of spectators included motorcycle enthusiasts, curious residents and parents with children.
Before 11 a.m. the riders began lining up along Harry Walker, facing north, so they could make their way onto Highway 404 southbound from Davis. Police expected the group would be travelling to Toronto as part of a memorial procession, according to Boudreau.
Then, at almost 11 a.m., the bikers began filing out in waves. To help facilitate the constant stream of bikes turning onto Davis, police officers closed the intersection for about 10 to 15 minutes. Boudreau said this was to get the riders out quickly and limit the disruption to residents.
All the riders had cleared the area after about 15 minutes and the intersection was able to reopen. After a slight backlog of vehicles, traffic had cleared up after another 10 minutes.
