Keep Kids Safe on Halloween

Children have been trick or treating on Wedgewood for decades. The City of Gulf Shores began closing off vehicle traffic to Wedgewood Dr between W 3rd St, and W 5th Av, due to an extreme safety issue caused by the heavy pedestrian traffic (our children) on Halloween intermingling with vehicle traffic for that several hour window on the holiday.

Before the city began limiting vehicle traffic during these few hours, vehicles from both the neighborhood, and vehicles carrying children trick or treaters were sharing the same pavement as small children wearing masks with limited visibility. This presented a huge safety hazard and was terrifying for children, parents, and drivers alike. Closing traffic on this small portion of Wedgewood Drive completely alleviated this issue.

Anyone who has ever stood on Wedgewood Dr during the peak of trick or treat hours can attest to the size of the crowd of small children that vehicle traffic would be traveling through if this city policy is reversed. A typical year sees a couple of thousand kids on this small stretch of road for a few hours.

Opening the street once again to vehicular traffic during these hours would alleviate the minimal disruption to the lives of our neighbors who choose not to participate in our annual festivities for our children, but at the cost of once again putting our kids at a huge risk of conflict with vehicular traffic, as was the case before the city was forced by circumstances to institute this policy.

The kids will still come every year, as they have for decades. They will only be dodging vehicles, and vice versa, as was the case before the practice of closing this street went in to effect.

It is absolutely necessary to protect our children during these few hours, on one night each year. No-one is obligated to participate in this annual event that we neighbors have chosen to host for the children in the community. However, we must insist that our city officials do the right thing and continue to provide protection from vehicular traffic to these kids for the few hours that it takes to make our Halloween holiday fun and safe.