In 2011, 27,000 people packed the street the night of Halloween and the celebration rang in to the tune of $183,000. In years past, the town has seen crowds as large as 80,000.
The goal this year for town leaders and the university is to keep the homegrown Halloween celebration under control and under budget.
"This is a homegrown Chapel Hill event, and all our planning supports the notion that if you're here and you can get downtown,enjoy the event and leave early before it gets too late," Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue said. "That's a successful event in our mind."
Police will try to steer traffic away from Franklin Street with barricades near downtown. Visitors will be hard-pressed to find parking and there won't be any shuttles taking people to the event. Instead, visitors will be greeted with alcohol checkpoints.
Last year, there were at least seven alcohol-related EMS calls and three people were taken to the hospital for further treatment.
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