ROME -- Entering crunch time for public-works projects for the 2000 Holy Year, Rome issued a plea yesterday to its residents: Go away.

"Romans, if you can, go on vacation," urged Guido Bertolaso, an overseer of some of roughly 1,000 projects getting Italy ready for the Millennium Holy Year, when up to 30 million tourists are expected.

Authorities scheduled the most annoying of the street projects for this month, but the tradition of leaving the city in August has eased in recent years. Bertolaso urged a revival. "We can open two or three projects in the next days if the reduction of traffic through the departure of Romans allows it," he said.

Pub Date: 8/02/99