For first time, police ban large trucks on Michigan Avenue during Lollapalooza

SHARE For first time, police ban large trucks on Michigan Avenue during Lollapalooza
lollapaloozaprep_080118_5_77803742.jpg

A street sign warning about upcoming closures for Lollapalooza at the intersection of Columbus Drive and Monroe Street in Chicago on July 30, 2018. | Colin Boyle/Sun-Times

For the first time, Chicago police are closing off Michigan Avenue to trucks larger than cargo vans during the upcoming Lollapalooza music festival in Grant Park.

Following plans by the Office of Emergency Management and Communications to boost security measures for the festival this year in the wake of the Las Vegas concert shooting last year, OEMC First Deputy Rich Guidice said the restriction is just an “extra layer” of protection.

The CPD announced on Twitter Tuesday that no truck “larger than a Cargo Van” would be allowed on Michigan Avenue between Randolph Street and Roosevelt Road from 1:30 p.m to midnight daily Aug. 2-5.

Guidice said while it was always a measure that OEMC had on the books for the festival, this is the first year this truck restriction has been put in place during Lollapalooza. He added it’s similar to a security procedure in effect around Wrigley Field during every Cubs game.

In the past, trucks have been used in terrorist attacks on large gatherings of people. Eight people were killed and 12 were injured when a terrorist drove a pickup truck down a bike path in New York City in 2017. A terrorist plowed a 20-ton truck through a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France in 2016, killing 84 and injuring hundreds more.

Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy for the Central District couldn’t be reached for comment, but the tweet urges truckers to plan accordingly.

RELATED

The Sun-Times ultimate guide to summer fun

Lollapalooza lineup to include Bruno Mars, Jack White, The Weeknd

Lollapalooza — Tips on staying cool, hydrated and avoiding sunburn

Lolla vets’ advice: Bring plastic bags for phones, good shoes, open mind

Lollapalooza security beefed up following last year’s Las Vegas concert shooting

The Latest
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”