Apr 7, 2006 7:08 pm US/Central
Dallas Prepares For Immigration Protests
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Downtown Dallas promises to be a busy place this weekend as organizers predict tens of thousands of protestors for the immigration reform rally Sunday afternoon. The march will start on Ross and Pearl and end at City Hall. With the road closings and all the demonstrators in the streets, it could be the formula for a traffic nightmare.
Still, thousands of others could brave the large crowds and attend other events besides the rally. If you are planning on doing so, driving and parking could absolutely be a problem. Organizers of the event are encouraging patrons to use city parking as some streets will be blocked off.
Barry Annino with the Deep Ellum Association gave a list of just some of the events going on Sunday. "At 11:30 a Deep Ellum five mile run, a one mile walk and a kiddy run. At 1:00 we have the Deep Ellum pet parade for the dog park we have down here."
Church leaders at First Baptist Dallas are hoping road blocks won't keep parishioners from worship this Palm Sunday. All three services and the evening concert are on schedule. Church officials began spreading the word of the rally earlier this week.
"What we are trying to help them understand is that Sunday the traffic condition will be pretty heavy," Ron Cresswell of First Baptist Dallas Church explained. "We just wanted to alert them to that so that they could make their plans accordingly and to know where to park."
The Dallas Convention Center is holding the Auto Show and the Arts District will be buzzing too as all three museums will remain open. Not only that, but the Deep Ellum Arts Festival is also on the schedule of events. Those who are not a part of the rally are hopeful some protestors might come and join them.
"Well the rally is going to be in a separate part of town and we're serving hot dogs and drinks. So, if there's anyone at the rally that's finished, and is in a festive mood, and has peaceful intent, we'd love to have them over here," said Cresswell.
There really isn't a very good way to avoid the traffic except to arrive early and make sure you know which streets are going to be blocked off. That way you can find a detour to get to where you need to go.
Event organizers are working hard to make sure things go as planned for the march. Volunteers are being trained and equipped with civil rights manuals on how to handle huge crowds.
"We want to be prepared for the worst, but hope for the best," said organizer Jose Delaroch.
Immigration protestors will also take to the streets in Downtown Fort Worth. A march is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The rally starts at the Tarrant county courthouse and will end at the Federal Courthouse. As many as 5,000 people are expected to attend that event.
(CBS 11 News)
