400,000 visit Speed Street, 25 arrests made

CHARLOTTE — According to a release from the city of Charlotte, Speed Street attracted nearly 400,000 visitors to uptown between Thursday and Saturday.

During the month of May, the event along with other Charlotte Motor Speedway activities, generates approximately $230 million for the Charlotte region.

Speed Street has been going on for 20 years.

Charlotte Area Transit System provided bus service from uptown to Charlotte Motor Speedway and increased LYNX light rail service for fans traveling uptown for the festival.

The LYNX service saw increases in passenger totals for each day of the festival. 

MEDIC treated 24 individuals at Speed Street, mostly for dehydration and heat-related injuries.

Speed Street was declared an extraordinary event, a precautionary measure which allowed the City of Charlotte to provide additional public safety resources.

The release said 16 adults were arrested this year, which was down from 19 in 2013. Arrests included trespass, damage to property and disorderly conduct.

Nine juvenile arrests were made, which is down from 10 total arrests in 2013. Eight of those arrests were curfew violations.

The city's Solid Waste Services crews cleaned streets and collected garbage and recyclable materials from the event. Last year, crews collected more than 24 tons of trash and recyclables during Speed Street.

WSOC