All-Star weekend will go well with enough patience, SLC officials say

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City officials are asking for patience in dealing with extra traffic and police during the NBA All-Star weekend.

At a press conference Tuesday, Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown discussed the traffic coming to downtown Salt Lake this weekend.

During the press conference, Mendenhall said officials are preparing for 100,000 people to visit the city.

Salt Lake City will be prioritizing pedestrian traffic, especially around the Vivint Arena.

“Let’s be really really careful. If you are in a car, there’s going to be a lot of people downtown. This is being designed for walkability and free fare to get you out of your car and into public transit,” Mendenhall said.

Police will close down the area around Vivint to accommodate visitors. The SLCPD offered the maps below to outline where the closures will be and when.

The first of the closures began Friday.

Brown said authorities have been working on plans to minimize the impact of the event as much as possible.

“Our number one ask for our community is to be patient. We know there’ll be some frustrations out there,” Brown said.

There’ll also be extra police officers in the city during the weekend.

But, after scrutiny last week about the city’s handling of its homeless population during All-Star week, Mendenhall clarified that the extra police around town will not be used to keep homeless people off the street.

Brown said the busy week would go well if people are patient.

“This is going to be a great event for our city. And we’re going to get through this and it’s going to be fantastic,” Brown said.

More on All-Star Week:

• UTA offering extra, extended services for All-Star week

• NBA All-Star Weekend expected to bring thousands to SLC

• All-Star fans! Oreo cookie wants to upgrade your NBA All-Star party!