In past years, crowds of up to 70,000 people have made it necessary to close the downtown area to traffic, and this year police officials have announced that starting at 8 p.m. today they will close most of the downtown sections of Franklin and Rosemary streets to traffic.
Many campus parking lots will be closed or restricted, making the perpetual prowl for a space more challenging than usual.
The Morehead lot will be closed beginning at 4:45 p.m., and the Utility and Porthole lots will only remain open until 5:15 p.m. The Bynum Circle lot will be restricted to NG3 permit holders, ALG permit holders and officials reporting to work from 4:45 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Swain lot will be restricted to emergency vehicles after 4:45 p.m., and while NG1 permit holders will not need to leave the lot, they will not be allowed to enter after 5:15 p.m. N4 will be restricted to permit holders and Paul Green Theatre event patrons from 4:45 p.m. to midnight.
Anyone
People who aren't able to find parking near Franklin Street can park in one of four park-and-ride lots and catch a shuttle to Chapel Hill for $3 round trip or $2 one way. Or they could ride the Point-2-Point, which will be running on schedule. But because some streets will be closed, not all of the stops will be made after 8 p.m.
Derek Poarch, director of public safety, said the P2P will reroute to Cameron Avenue because of the closing of Franklin Street. Therefore the bus won't be able to stop in front of the Varsity Theatre on Franklin Street, Spencer on Raleigh Road, Granville Towers, either of the stops on Rosemary Street or Fraternity Court.
He also said that because of traffic, there might be delays with the buses.
Police officers also are taking special precautions to ensure that there is no trouble to spoil the celebration. "Every police officer that's not scheduled to work will be on duty," Poarch said.
Poarch said he doesn't think there is extra reason to worry about crime on Halloween because the 30 additional officers patrolling Franklin Street and the UNC campus should make anyone contemplating ghoulish misdeeds think twice.
Police will be checking for alcoholic beverages, glass bottles, fireworks and explosives, dogs, weapons, paint and flammable substances in the closed area of Franklin Street.
The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.
