Denver sends food trucks to ‘destination zones’ near LoDo exclusion area

DENVER (KDVR) — Days after announcing a food truck exclusion zone, Denver has released a plan to have food truck “destination zones” near the Lower Downtown district.

Denver police shared the pilot plan with FOX31 on Friday. It includes specific areas where food trucks will be able to apply for permits and park on weekends when they are not allowed on some of the nearby streets.

“Locating the food truck destination zones away of the highest-volume out-crowd locations will reduce the congregation of people in the busiest parts of LoDo, which will help to facilitate egress from those high-volume areas,” a release from DPD said.

The three main zones are as follows:

• 18th Street between Larimer and Market streets
• Lawrence Street between 20th and 21st
• 21st Street between Blake and Market

For this weekend, Sept. 6 and 7, the 21st Street zone will be replaced with one on Market Street between 17th and 18th due to concerts and large crowds at Coors Field for concerts. This zone adjacent to Coors Field will also be closed on Sept. 27 due to expected large crowds when the Rockies host the Dodgers in a game that will be followed by a fireworks show.

DPD said the food truck destination zones are designed to be convenient for people leaving bars and heading to the rideshare pickup areas that were created early in the summer.

Earlier this week, DPD announced restrictions to food trucks in LoDo between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

The area includes the following blocks, which largely consist of nightlife venues:

• Blake Street between 18 ^th and 21 ^st Streets
• Market Street between 18 ^th and 21 ^st Streets
• Larimer Street between 18 ^th and 21 ^st Streets
• 21 ^st Street between Market and Larimer Streets

DPD said the food truck changes and the rideshare pickup changes were in an effort to reduce crime and violence in the LoDo area when there are large crowds at the bars and restaurants.

“The Denver Police Department has a large number of officers in the LoDo area on weekend nights, and finds violent incidents often stem from areas in which crowds congregate after leaving nightclubs and entertainment establishments. By encouraging patrons to head home after leaving bars in the busiest parts of LoDo, DPD’s goal is to reduce the number of ‘bump into’ fights and incidents that sometimes escalate to gun violence among the crowds late at night Fridays through Sundays,” DPD said.

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