DENVER — The City of Denver and Denver Police Department are taking steps to increase safety in the city's Lower Downtown (LoDo) area ahead of a busy Halloweekend.
The city is temporarily closing two blocks to vehicle traffic in order to test crowd management, improve pedestrian egress and prevent violence.
Market Street will be closed between 19th and 20th streets, while Larimer Street will be closed between 20th and 21st streets. The closures will take effect Friday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28 from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Denver
Denver to temporarily close streets in LoDo to vehicle traffic for Halloweekend
ViewHouse Ballpark, located at 2015 Market Street, is gearing up for anticipated large crowds.
“We're super excited. We have an entire weekend full of events,” said Kendall Potts, marketing manager for ViewHouse, “We’re looking to be probably sold out, line out the door for Friday, Saturday. We’re really looking forward to this new change that’s coming.”
Potts believes Denver police and city officials have been making tremendous efforts to address safety concerns.
"We're really excited to see what the street closure brings to our safety of our guests and staff this weekend," she said.
Just last month, five people were shot in the 1900 block of Market outside of Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row.
Lissa Druss, a spokesperson for Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row, said they've been working with local officials to help make things safer for everyone.
"That incident was incredibly scary, and we are grateful no lives were lost," said Druss. "But we've learned from it, and we've come together as a community — a stronger community."
Druss said the restaurant's relationship with city leaders and safety officials has never been stronger, adding that they're grateful something positive has come out of a very scary situation.
"It's about pedestrian safety. It's about resident safety. It's about patron safety. It's about our staff safety. We just want everyone to be safe," said Druss.
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Eric and Anna James plan to go out in LoDo this Halloweekend and say any extra protection from law enforcement is reassuring.
"There's always a concern for something, but just having a safe place to walk around and get to the next location safely, that's ideal," said Eric. "People want to go out on a Friday night and just have a good time. And if there's a safe space to walk around, that's good."
Parking meters on the 1900 block of Market and 2000 block of Larimer will be bagged as traffic is diverted. The bags will be removed after the closures, and drivers will be able to park in those spots during the day.
