Today might not be the best day to travel downtown for routine business, like paying a parking ticket or meeting someone for lunch.
Two major events this morning will effectively paralyze traffic downtown at least until early afternoon.
Gov.-elect Bill Ritter’s inauguration ceremonies begin this morning at 8 a.m., at the Holy Ghost Church at 19th and California Streets. A few hours later, a very large crowd will begin gathering on the west steps of the state Capitol building at Lincoln Street and Colfax Avenue for Ritter’s swearing in, which begins around 11 a.m.
Meanwhile, the annual Stock Show Parade will move through downtown, causing major street closures.
At 9 a.m., police will begin closing off nearly all of 17th Street, from Wazee Street up to the Brown Palace Hotel on Tremont Place. Tremont will be closed from 17th over to 15th Street. And virtually all of 15th will be closed from Tremont back down to Wazee.
A Stock Show barbecue party will be held at 11:30 a.m., in the Wells Fargo Bank building at 17th and Broadway, just two blocks from the capital.
The parade will begin at noon at 17th and Wynkoop, in front of Union Station, and is expected to last more than an hour. The street closures will be lifted by 2 p.m., according to police.
Parking anywhere near downtown will be at a premium.
