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Downtown street to close Friday to cleanup illegal street racing mess
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BATON ROUGE – City crews will close part of 3rd Street through downtown Baton Rouge Friday to clean tire marks from the roadway.
The cleanup will take about five hours, the city said, in an advisory about the road closure. Third Street will be closed from Florida to Laurel from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Business owners in the area told WBRZ, the tire marks are skid marks from an illegal street racing maneuver that happened before bars closed Wednesday morning. At least one driver kept their vehicle stationary, hit the gas to spin wheels, causing tires to heat up – it's called a “burnout” – leaving behind burned rubber and marks on the road surface.
Businesses said they've reported issues to police and are concerned downtown's usually mellow, mingling bar scene is becoming out of control. The road rage most recently happened a block from the downtown police precinct.
Cameras recorded the burnout this week, officials said. Police said the situation was an isolated incident, though the Downtown Development District said police will be seen more in downtown to deter rowdy behavior.
The horseplay comes amid a crackdown in the city's open container law, which forbids people from drinking outside of bars. A recent report by The Advocate newspaper found 100 people were ticketed in late May and early June.
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