DAYTON — Expect fences, barricades, reroutes, and closures downtown because NATO is here.
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City workers dropped large concrete barricades Monday to block traffic access to the streets that will be closed for the NATO Assembly on May 23-26.
Work crews used forklifts to pull pallets of mental fencing off trucks parked around downtown.
The crews and police officers blocked off some lanes of traffic during set-up Monday, but the streets were not yet completely shut down.
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Dayton Police told News Center 7 that they are putting up 14,000 feet of fencing and 6,000 feet of barricades.
The city would like to have all the security measures in place Tuesday night or Wednesday morning for dress rehearsals, as reported by Mike Campbell on News Center 7 at 5:00.
Sky 7 drone footage showed an aerial view of the work progressing quickly on Main Street between Monument Avenue and Third Street.
Kim Schooler lives downtown and said she’s worried about how the shutdowns will affect her neighbors.
“A lot of people have to go to the doctors a lot in our building, and they’re not going to make their appointments because the traffic is going to be so chaotic,” Schooler said.
Gayle Miller and Seyta Davis work downtown and said that after Tuesday, they’ll be working from home the rest of NATO week.
“You just don’t know what kind of security measures you will have to go through. The fact that we’re working from home is great,” Miller said.
“What’s the traffic going to be through the courthouse? Well, you can take your chances and find out, but it probably will be pretty hectic,” Davis said.
Schooler said she’s excited that NATO will be in Dayton, but is concerned about the impact it will have on people who live and work downtown.
“I’ve never seen a summit this huge in my entire life, so it’s exciting. At the same time, sad on the other part,” Schooler said.
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