Downtown Chillicothe streets will close Saturday afternoon and evening for two Halloween events — a downtown trick-or-treat and the Chillicothe Jaycees Halloween parade — the City of Chillicothe announced, in information reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian.
Closures tied to Saturday’s events will run from 2 to 10 p.m., according to a map released by the city and reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian. The downtown trick-or-treat, hosted by the Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce and set for 4 to 6 p.m. in the core business district along Second Street, will have its closure zone in effect from 2 to 6 p.m.
Closures for the Jaycees parade, which steps off at 7 p.m. along a route down Paint Street to Main Street, will remain in place for the full 2 to 10 p.m. window to allow time for staging and cleanup, the Scioto Valley Guardian reported from the city’s announcement.
The streets bordering the closure area include Water, Main, Walnut and Mulberry streets, the city’s map shows, with Paint and Second streets affected within that perimeter, according to the Scioto Valley Guardian.
Saturday’s downtown events follow the city’s annual citywide trick-or-treat, which Mayor Luke Feeney’s office set for Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The city has said it schedules trick-or-treat according to the date recommended annually by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission rather than defaulting to Halloween night itself, the Scioto Valley Guardian reported.
Drivers who normally travel through downtown on Saturday should plan alternate routes around the Water-to-Mulberry corridor during the closure window, and expect heavier foot traffic near Second and Paint streets during both the trick-or-treat hours and the parade.
Because the parade closures stay in place until 10 p.m., residents heading downtown for the evening should expect the Paint Street corridor to remain closed well after the trick-or-treat crowd thins out, while streets outside the Water, Main, Walnut and Mulberry perimeter remain the way around the closure zone, according to the city’s map.
The city is urging drivers to use caution and plan for the closures while trick-or-treaters and parade-goers are downtown, according to the announcement reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian. The information in the city’s announcement was obtained from the City of Chillicothe, the Guardian noted.