Salem Street Shutdowns Set For Halloween Witch City Tourist Season

SALEM, MA — While the holiday crowds have been building for weeks in Halloween's unofficial hometown, the full-fledged spooky season begins in Salem this weekend with some road closures and parking restrictions set — and additional closures likely to help facilitate public safety.

"Visitors to Salem in October should not plan to drive into downtown Salem, especially on weekends," the city said in a statement announcing the closures. "Traffic is heavy and parking is severely limited."

The city will have a free shuttle service to Riley Plaza from three satellite lots at Salem State, Salem Hospital and Salem High School, and advises taking public transportation using the MBTA Commuter Rail from Boston and the North Shore (parking at Beverly or Swampscott stations) and Salem Ferry service.

City officials said that while road closures are set to begin at 4 p.m. on Halloween itself — which is a Tuesday this year — there is a "high likelihood" that they may be in place on the weekend of Oct. 28-29 and additional weekends in October. Salem Public Schools have Oct. 30 and Oct. 31 off this year, in part, because of Halloween-related transportation issues across the city.

Here are the city's preliminary closures in place for Halloween season:

October 5: Grand Opening Parade

The Haunted Happenings Parade starts at 6:30 p.m. at Shetland Office Park on Congress Street on Oct. 5. The parade route is as follows: from Congress Street at Shetland Park the parade will take a left onto Derby Street, a right onto Central Street, a left onto Front Street, a right onto Washington Street, a right onto the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall, a left onto Washington Square, and into the Salem Common.

Roads along the parade route will be closed to traffic. Anticipate traffic delays on Route 114 and Route 1A. Route 1A from Derby Street to Brown Street will be closed to traffic from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Other road closures will be Congress Street, Washington Street, Essex Street from Washington Street to Union Street, Central Street, Front Street, and Washington Square West, North, and South. There will be no parking tow zones along the entire parade route.

No Parking – Tow Zone Areas

A parking ban will be in effect on Oct. 5 on the following streets between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Any vehicle parked in these areas will be towed.

• Congress Street both sides from Derby Street to Harbor Street.
• Essex Street from Washington Street to Hawthorne Boulevard.
• Central Street both sides from Charter Street to Derby Street.
• Derby Street both sides from Congress Street to Lafayette Street.
• Front Street both sides from Washington Street to Lafayette Street.
• Washington Square both sides from Essex Street to Brown Street.
• Parking meter spaces at the intersection of Charter Street, Front Street, and Central Street.
• Washington Street between Essex Street and Front Street, metered spaces.

Road Closures

The following roads will be closed on Oct. 5 from 6 p.m. until approximately 9 p.m.

• Congress Street will be closed from Harbor Street to Derby Street.
• Derby Street will be closed from Congress Street to Central Street.
• Commuters will not be able to use Route 1A between Dodge St. and Brown Street, which includes Derby Street, Hawthorne Boulevard and Washington Square at the Common entrance.
• Front Street and Washington Street between New Derby Street and Church Street.
• Essex Street will be closed at Washington Street.

Garage Access

• Vehicles parked in the South Harbor Garage will not be able to exit until approximately 9 p.m.
• The Museum Place Garage entrance will only be accessible from Church Street or St. Peter Street. Vehicles exiting the Museum Place Garage will only be able to take a left onto to Brown Street and a right onto St. Peter Street.

Witch City 5K: October 14

The Salem YMCA Witch City 5K road race starts at 9 a.m. at the Salem Willows. No road closures are planned, however, travelers are advised to anticipate traffic impacts along the following roadways: Memorial Drive, Essex Street, Route 1A, Route 114 including Hawthorne Boulevard, Derby Street, and Fort Avenue, ending at Restaurant Row.

Devil's Chase: October 21

The Devil’s Chase road race starts at 8 a.m. at the Salem Willows soccer field on Fort Avenue. No road closures are planned, however, expect traffic impacts until 10:30 a.m. along the route.

Route: Restaurant Row to Memorial Drive to Szetela Lane. Right to the walking path before Webb Street, left Andrews, cross Washington Square into the Common and exiting at Forrester Street. Washington Square East, then right to Essex Street, left onto Little Hawthorne Boulevard, left on Derby Street to Fort Avenue to Winter Island Road. Winter Island Road back to Columbus Square, right to Columbus Avenue, right onto Bay View Avenue, left onto Beach Avenue, left on Sutton Avenue, right onto Bay View Avenue, right onto Willows Access Road. Follow the walking path around the backside of the Willows by the yacht club, exit back onto Restaurant Row, follow onto Memorial Drive, right at Szetela Lane, to Memorial Drive, left onto Fort Avenue, and left onto Memorial Drive by the soccer field to finish.

Road Closures September/October weekends: Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 7, 8, & 9, 14 & 15, 21 & 22, and 28 & 29

Essex Street from Hawthorne Boulevard to New Liberty Street and Essex Street from Barton Square to Washington Street will be closed to through traffic and no on-street parking will be allowed from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.

Other closures are set for Essex Street, Church Street, Washington Street, St. Peter's Street, Brown Street, Front Street, Charter Street, Lafayette Street, Derby Street, Mall Street, Oliver Street and Williams Street on a rolling basis beginning at 10 a.m. each weekend day and Indigenous Peoples' Day/Columbus Day on Oct. 9.

The Salem Police Department will close any street at any time if they determine that a public safety issue exists.

There will also be "No Parking" postings on portions of Washington Square North and South during the weekends in September/October, reserved for authorized event vehicles, and Washington Square East on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22.

Halloween: October 31

Halloween events will include multiple road closures and heavy traffic impacts for the entire day and night. Traffic impacts will be significant, including on highways leading to the city. Expect major traffic impacts on Route 114 and Route 1A, as well as likely impacts and delays on Route 128.

Downtown Salem streets will close to all traffic no later than 4 p.m. on Halloween. Road closures include Essex Street at Crombie Street and Barton Square to Union Street, Washington Street from New Derby Street to Bridge Street, Federal Street from St. Peter's Street to North Street, Washington Square North and West from Essex Street to Brown Street, Hawthorne Boulevard, Derby Street, Route 1A, Congress Street near Pickering Wharf, Charter Street, Central Street, Front Street, and Lafayette Street from New Derby Street to Front Street.

Franklin Street and Bridge Street at Sgt. James Ayube Memorial Drive will also close to all traffic between the westerly overpass ramps and Sgt. James Ayube Memorial Drive from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. for the closing fireworks.

The MBTA closes the MBTA Salem garage from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Halloween. Cars will not be permitted to enter or exit the garage between these hours.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)