SAVANNAH, Ga. — Drivers heading downtown on Saturday should plan around the Savannah State University homecoming parade, which steps off at 9 a.m. and is set to wrap up by noon, with road closures along the route beginning at 5 a.m.
Floats and marchers will line up on East Broad Street between Gwinnett Street and Liberty Street, travel north to Broughton Street, turn west on Broughton until it reaches MLK Boulevard, then head south on MLK to break up below Gwinnett Street. Several nearby downtown streets will see detours while the route is closed.
Parking is the other big change. No-parking zones run from midnight until 3 p.m. on stretches of Harris, Charlton, Jones, Taylor, Gordon and Gaston streets, plus both sides of the route itself. City officials said cars left in a marked zone after the posted time will be towed, and owners will pay for it.
A second set of closures hits the Ellis Square area Saturday night. From 8 p.m. until about 4 a.m. Sunday, parts of St. Julian, Montgomery, Jefferson, Barnard and Congress streets close to cars, and the Whitaker Street garage will not let drivers out through its Ellis Square and Barnard Street exit during that window. A rideshare pickup zone, marked as the Purple Zone on the police map, will be set up at the south end of Ellis Square during those hours.
The parade is a centerpiece of homecoming weekend for the Savannah State University Tigers. Savannah Police asked drivers to map out routes ahead of time and to be patient around the closures. More weekend event closures are listed on the city site.
Anyone driving into the historic district Saturday morning should expect the route to be blocked well before the first float rolls, since crews begin closing it four hours ahead of the start. Signs marking each no-parking block are going up before the event, so check the curb before leaving a car anywhere near East Broad, Broughton or MLK.
Section: More Savannah GA events news
Savannah events business profiles
Filed under: Savannah GA Events News