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Authorities talk safety plan ahead of annual Woodward Dream Cruise

As the 30th anniversary celebration of Dream Cruise gets ready to kick off this weekend, law enforcement teams and business owners across Oakland County are preparing for what may be in store.

 "There'll be drones, there'll be helicopters, there'll be dogs, cars, motorcycles, horses, bikes, pedestrian patrols. Everything you can imagine will be out there to keep the event safe and fun," said Sheriff Michael Bouchard, Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

From closing sections of the busy roadway to installing new cameras along the path to help monitor the crowds, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office is working hand-in-hand with neighboring police departments to staff this weekend's major event.

"We're all concerned about the entire length of Woodward, but we have our own jurisdictions to police, so that helps us out a lot," said Chief Matt Koehn with the Berkley Department of Public Safety.

Right in the heart of it all sits Uncle Andy's Pizza and Mochinut. Owner Andy Nannoshi says the annual event always brings out hundreds of new customers into his neighborhood spot, but can sometimes make it tough for his regulars to place their orders.

"We've been doing this for about 20 years, I think this is our 20th Dream Cruise," said Andy Nannoshi. "Most of our business is our regular customers who live in the neighborhood. Woodward is generally gridlocked on Saturday, so we don't do any pizza delivery or anything like that."

Nannoshi hopes to take advantage of the extra foot traffic to introduce his newest addition to the crowds, Korean fried doughnuts.

"Instead of seeing maybe 120 regular customers on a Saturday, we'll see maybe 220 Dream Cruisers," he said. "A lot of that is grab and go, and I think the people at Dream Cruise are going to love it."

With restrictions including the size and type of cars that can participate to limits on drone usage, Bouchard encourages people to embrace the fun but stay mindful. There are some restrictions when it comes to what can hit the road at Dream Cruise, including no trailers, no commercial vehicles and no cars over 10,000 pounds.

 "It's really important to understand the cooperation and teamwork of every law enforcement agency up and down, Woodward and beyond, that are involved in this," said Bouchard.

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