City of Pittsburgh officials announced plans to ensure a safe, fun and clean atmosphere for tens of thousands of visitors expected in the city Saturday for St. Patrick’s Day parade festivities.

Motorists should expect delays and street closures Downtown after 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning from the parade staging area on Liberty Avenue from 11th Street east to 26th Street in the Strip District. The parade starts Downtown at 10 a.m. at Liberty Avenue and Grant Street, goes to the Boulevard of the Allies and finishes at a grandstand at Stanwix Street.

Streets should begin reopening by 1 p.m., but those attending other Downtown events — including the 1 p.m. Pittsburgh Penguins game at Consol Energy Center and the Home & Garden Show starting at 10 a.m. at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center — should plan for delays or consider taking public transit.

Uniformed and bike patrol officers from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police will be enforcing the city’s prohibition against open containers of alcohol throughout the day.

As the parade ends the Department of Public Works will begin picking up barriers and trash and sweeping Downtown streets.

With the conclusion of the parade public safety personnel including city police and mounted Allegheny County police will shift their focus to the South Side. Police will begin clearing the South Side at 2 a.m.

At that time Public Works will also begin collecting barricades, picking up trash and street sweeping. Crews will use backpack blowers to blow sidewalk trash into the paths of street sweepers.