50,000 attended Franklin Street Halloween

The Triangle's biggest Halloween party on Franklin Street drew approximately 50,000 people this year.

Despite increased efforts from Chapel Hill police to limit crowds, the Saturday night block party was larger than the 35,000 people who attended last year. But attendees said fewer people lingered on the street because of a greater police presence and mandatory cover charges at downtown bars.

In 2008, town officials launched a “Homegrown Halloween” initiative to limit non-residents from attending and to cut thousands of dollars in cleanup costs. The crowd was far smaller than the record 80,000 people who showed up in 2007 to celebrate, which caused town officials to limit the celebration.

On Saturday night, Franklin Street was shut down to traffic and bars closed their doors to newcomers at 1 a.m. One person was arrested for an assault that occurred in the Franklin Street area barricaded for the celebration, Chapel Hill police said.

Orange County Emergency Medical Services responded to 22 calls. Eighteen of the calls were related to intoxication, police said. Eight people were transported to UNC Hospitals.

Police began clearing downtown streets at 12:20 a.m. Franklin Street opened to traffic around 1:50 a.m. Sunday after being cleaned, according to police.

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