Denver police focus on traffic flow, safety during Cinco de Mayo celebrations

Denver police are planning additional patrols to keep everyone safe during this weekend's Cinco de Mayo celebrations. 

The plans will focus on traffic flow, safety to and from the event, and enforcement. Police say they are especially looking for reckless drivers, including those who are speeding, doing burnouts, and wheelies. 

Police say drivers typically follow traffic rules. There have been only five arrests and a handful of tickets given in the last few years. 

Denver police said enforcement will be broken into two phases. 

Phase 1: Starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3, Federal Boulevard traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction between 2nd Avenue and West Arkansas Avenue. These restrictions allow first responders to quickly move to where they are headed to respond to any safety-related situations.

Phase 2: If traffic gets too congested around 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3, officers will simultaneously turn all the traffic lights green to allow traffic to continue through Arkansas all the way to 2nd Avenue. 

The goal is to keep traffic out of neighborhoods.

"Sometimes when people are caught up in that traffic, they tend to spill off into the neighborhoods," said Lt. James Ballinger, Denver Police Department. "This creates a nuisance and hazard for the neighbors that live in the area."

Anyone under the age of 18 will be under curfew this weekend. It will begin at midnight on Saturday and 11 p.m. on Sunday.