Denver is ginning up ways to deal with violence at night downtown. This weekend, the city will shut down one block each of Larimer and Market streets in LoDo to give that strategy a try.
"The move is in response to requests from residents and businesses to better manage crowds and vehicle volumes and improve safety in the area, particularly as Halloween approaches," the Denver Police Department said in a statement. "The result will be an elimination of vehicles on these blocks where people tend to gather in the late night and early morning hours. Removing traffic flow and parked vehicles from these two blocks will also increase officers' visibility of potentially dangerous or illegal activity occurring so that it can be quickly addressed."
Market will be closed between 19th and 20th streets. Larimer will be closed between 20th and 21st streets.
Violent crime has risen to new levels in Denver.
Violent crimes per 100,000 residents reached a six-year high last July, according to data collected by DPD, though department spokesperson Doug Schepman told us that, overall, violent incidents dipped 2.48% between January and October of last year compared to the same timeframe this year.
Data Source: Denver Police Department and the U.S. Census Bureau
Still, City Council member Darrell Watson, who made a joint statement with his colleagues on the road closure plan, said people who work and live in LoDo have been demanding some sort of action.
"Each council office was reached out to and was in discussion with folks in Lower Downtown," he told us. "The ideas are coming from the neighbors."
We'll find out this weekend if the closures make any impact. If it does, the city might expand on this pilot and close streets more often when lots of people head downtown to party. The experiment comes as Mayor Mike Johnston tries to bring more business back to city's central core and help businesses there bounce back from a lingering pandemic slump.
Watson, who said he does not have a costume for this Halloween weekend, said he and his colleagues want to try out more ideas like this.
"We believe that we want to try anything and everything, and this is one of the things we're going to try," he said. "We want folks to come downtown. We want them to have a fantastic time."
