Downtown street closures lifted; 400K expected to attend Mexican Independence Day parade

WELL, AS OF THIS MORNING, ALL THE ROAD CLOSURES HAVE BEEN LIFTED AS THE REVELERS HAVE NOW GONE HOME. THE CITY IMPLEMENTED THEIR PLAN YESTERDAY TO CLOSE THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT TO INCOMING TRAFFIC. TAKE A LOOK THAT ALSO INCLUDED SOME EXPRESSWAY RAMPS LEADING INTO THE LOOP. THEY ALSO CLOSED MICHIGAN AVENUE BETWEEN WACKER AND LAKE STREET. NOW, THERE WERE SOME CAR CARAVANS SEEN DOWNTOWN , BUT NOTHING LIKE IN YEARS PAST . POLICE CONTROLLING THE CROWDS WELL, THIS AFTER THE FIRST CITYWIDE EVENT KNOWN AS EL GRITO YESTERDAY IN GRAND PARK, A PARTY WITH ALL THE BEST OF MEXICAN CULTURE SETRILLIONIGHT IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO. NOW THE FOCUS TODAY TURNS TO THE 400,000 PEOPLE EXPECTED TO ATTEND THE MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE IN LITTLE VILLAGE. IT BEGINS AT NOON AT 26 IN ALBANY AND ENDS AT 26, AND CUSTER, THE LITTLE VILLAGE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRESIDENT SAYS PRIDE IS RUNNING THROUGHOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD AS THEY'RE BUSY GETTING READY FOR ITS 53RD RUNNING FOR ME, ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY IS A CELEBRATION OF OUR HERITAGE OF OUR ANCESTRY. >> UH, WHERE MY PARENTS COME FROM. UM, AND GROWING UP HERE IN THE LITTLE VILLAGE NEIGHBORHOOD, IT'S SOMETHING THAT I'VE BEEN DOING SINCE I WAS A LITTLE GIRL. SO IT'S SOMETHING VERY EXCITING FOR ME TO NOW BE ABLE TO TAKE A PART OF AS AN ORGANIZER. >> NOW, IF YOU DO PLAN TO GO TO THE PARADE TODAY, OFFICIALS ARE URGING EVERYONE TO TRY TO GET THERE EARLY AND MAYBE TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AS THEY ARE EXPECTING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO ATTEND.