Austin Braces for 80,000 to 100,000 Downtown on Halloween Night: Sixth Street Closes at 4 p.m., and It Is a No-Refusal Weekend
APD is surging officers downtown, towing from the closure zone after 4 p.m. and expediting blood-test warrants for suspected drunken drivers — on a Saturday Halloween that also brings a Texas home game and the end of daylight saving time.
The Austin Police Department expects 80,000 to 100,000 people in the Sixth Street area over Halloween weekend, the department announced at a Thursday news conference — a crowd built from a rare collision of events: Halloween falls on a Saturday for the first time in six years, it coincides with a Texas football game at home, and daylight saving time ends the same night.
Downtown commander Christopher Juusola said APD will increase police presence and close roads to keep drivers and pedestrians apart, working with Emergency Medical Services and the Austin Fire Department to monitor the crowds. East and West Sixth streets close to vehicle traffic from Brazos Street to Red River Street starting at 4 p.m. Saturday, and police will tow vehicles left in prohibited areas after that time. Sabine Street closes at East Sixth, and Neches, Trinity and San Jacinto streets close between Fifth and Seventh, blocked with fencing or barriers so emergency crews can reach the crowds. Anyone using a rideshare must leave the public-safety area to reach a car — vehicles cannot drive into the pedestrian zone.
It is also a 'no refusal' weekend in Austin: drivers pulled over on suspicion of DWI who refuse a breath test can face expedited warrants for a blood-alcohol test. APD's other standing reminders apply with force tonight — public consumption of alcohol remains illegal in the entertainment districts, groups should stay together, phones should stay charged, and, as Corporal Jose Mendez put it in the department's guidance, pedestrians should not cross streets between cars and should report suspicious activity.
The clock change is part of the safety math, not a footnote. Clocks reset at 2 a.m. Sunday as daylight saving time ends, giving the night an extra hour. Juusola flagged exactly that: an extra hour of drinking, he said, means more intoxication problems for officers to manage. The department is planning for the longer night; Austinites heading downtown should plan for it too.
