O Street Recap: night one noisy, but thankfully uneventful

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - After a lot of intensity leading up to the first night of the Memorial Day weekend, in which droves of people and vehicles flocked to O Street for the annual cruise weekend, it ended being just noisy, but uneventful in the Capital City.

Lincoln Police began their traffic operation around the time of the evening rush Friday night. A little after 6:30 p.m. is when onlookers began camping out along O Street as the traffic picked up.

As Friday evening turned into Friday night, more and more people arrived, and as the crowds grew, so did the traffic and the law enforcement presence.

Lincoln Police appeared to be concentrated heavily along O Street between 44th and 56th, while the Nebraska State Patrol was seen several times in the area of 84th and O. LPD had their operations center, inside the mobile command van, at the back end of the Hy-Vee parking lot, right in the center of the epicenter of everything that was happening. One of NSP’s helicopter was also circling above, starting a little after 9 p.m.

Outside of well over a dozen traffic stops, as observed on city traffic cameras and the 10/11 NOW Skyview camera, the first night thankfully remained uneventful. Around 11 p.m., LPD could be seen clearing out the Hy-Vee lot of both vehicles and people. On the opposite side of the street, crowds and vehicles remains along the strip mall that houses businesses such as Men’s Warehouse and Verizon. As Friday night turned into early Saturday morning, those who were gathered there eventually dispersed.

Around 1:30 a.m., Lincoln Police called it a night, as their command center was seen heading back to the station.

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