Salem expecting record crowds this weekend, public transportation encouraged
SALEM - The scary clowns, ghost and goblins are haunting the streets of Salem. City officials say since the beginning of the month there's been more than half a million visitors. That's a 15% uptick from last year and this weekend they are expecting record crowds.
Last weekend they hit a peak with more than 100,000 visitors downtown.
"This year we see record crowds earlier. And for a city with 44,000 residents and just over 5,000 public parking spaces, that's a lot to handle," Mayor Kim Driscoll said.
One of the big concerns is the traffic. As Halloween draws near many roads will soon be blocked off.
"Visiting Salem in October is fun, it's festive," Driscoll said. "But visiting when you come here by car is not so great."
What they want to avoid are long traffic lines like the one on Washington Street Friday afternoon. They are encouraging visitors to take public transportation or risk hefty fines or being towed.
Late Friday afternoon, WBZ reporter Mike Sullivan took the train to Salem from North Station, while a photographer drove. The trip on the train took 33 minutes compared to an hour and five minutes by car.
"It's pretty empty here," says Roland Geurts, who is from the Netherlands, but is heading to Salem with his friends. "Coming from the Netherlands any train around this time, going to any random city, is going to be busier than this train for sure."
Additional MBTA service to Salem has been added ahead of Halloween.
"It is difficult I live in south Salem and my son lives over here and I told him I'll see him in November," laughed resident Gayle Sullivan.
Kevin Marchino runs Rockafellas. He says October tourism is big for business. "It's awesome it's a lot of stress for everybody. We just do first come first serve there's no calling ahead or reservation," he said.
Some businesses have to adjust to maximize the Halloween month. "The businesses who might not be tourist based in October a lot of them are clever and shift some of their inventory to be part of the action," Destination Salem Executive Director Kate Fox said.