This weekend, downtown Orlando will be back to normal. After midnight, alcohol will be served, and people can keep the party going until 2 a.m. But next week, city leaders will announce their newest plan to stop the street party that they say is causing crime.
Downtown’s state of emergency ended Thursday when Mayor Buddy Dyer lifted a 1 a.m. curfew and a late-night drinking ban, one day earlier than the start date of his week-long order.
Last Friday, a shooter opened fire on Orange Avenue, killing two people and wounding seven others who were downtown for Halloween events. Dyer called for help.
City leaders want to make downtown nightlife less busy in the long term, and they plan to start next weekend by stopping the long-standing practice of closing Orange Avenue to traffic on weekends and letting cars drive on its southbound lanes instead.
For more than ten years, Orlando Police have made downtown’s main street, from Washington to Church streets, a pedestrian-only zone on Friday and Saturday nights after 8 p.m. This is done to encourage partygoers to spill out of bars and onto the street.
But worries have grown that the change just makes people act badly.
“We want people who come downtown to shop at our stores, have fun, and safely return home,” said David Barilla, who is in charge of the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Downtown Development Board.
“And people who want to hang out in our streets downtown no longer have room to do that.”
At first, only one lane will be open to cars again, leaving the other two lanes open for people. There will be walls between them.
The plan is to let cars use two lanes at first, and then all three in the long run. The speed at which that happens is still not clear; that will be decided after the first change is looked at.
“We need to do it in a way that cuts down on problems instead of making new ones,” Barilla said.
The plan was explained to bar owners Thursday afternoon.
Monica McCown, vice president of the Orlando Hospitality Alliance, which represents bars, restaurants, and clubs in the area, said that most of the 20 people who attended liked the plan.
She said, “I believe their plan to gradually open Orange Avenue is most likely the best thing that can be done for the business right now.” “The concerns about safety in downtown are found on the sidewalks, not inside the shops.”
After the shooting, there were also talks about another option: getting a special event permit for downtown from a private group. This would, in a way, make the streets private and allow for the return of weapons checks to the area, according to city officials.
Because of a new state law that lets people carry guns without a permit in most public places, city officials say they can not do their own weapons checks anymore.
After the killings, Democratic leaders in the area have said bad things about the law that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed.
Barilla, on the other hand, said that privatization is too complicated and will not be explored at this time.
City officials have been trying to stop the violence that happens on the streets of downtown while lots of people enjoy the many bars and clubs in the area. The Orange Avenue makeover is the latest in a series of new rules that they think will help.
They made bars turn down the music and keep track of how many people are in them. People who own their own parking lots need to make sure they are safe and well lit. As of late, Orlando only allowed one new bar per city block in the downtown area.
People still meet in the street, and most of the time they are not even going into the businesses in the area; they are just hanging out.
On Halloween night, 17-year-old Jaylen Edgar pointed a gun at people at Central Boulevard and Orange Avenue and then again at Washington Street and Orange Avenue. The teen was quickly caught by OPD and taken into custody.
On Monday, prosecutors said Edgar would be charged as an adult with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
According to state law, State Attorney Andrew Bain was going to show proof to a grand jury in order to raise the charges to first-degree murder.
The Electric Daisy Carnival is coming to town at Tinker Field, two miles west of downtown. It will be a busy weekend, but not nearly as busy as Halloween, which is often the busiest night of the year in the area.
A spokesperson for the OPD said that the department does not talk about its strategies, but they did say that officers would be out on watch.
A statement from the Orlando Police Department said, “The community is reminded to always call 9-1-1 or flag down an officer working the event if they see anything suspicious.”
The statement was not signed. “Police officers are always working on the streets and behind the scenes to keep our city safe, even when they can not be seen.”