Will police block neighborhoods, roads during St. Fratty’s? What to expect near Cal Poly
Editor’s Note: The Tribune has dropped the paywall on this article and made it available to all readers in the interest of promoting public safety. Please consider supporting local journalism and similar coverage with a subscription to The Tribune.
St. Fratty’s Day is nearly here, and many are watching to see whether San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly’s plans to stave off any massive partying will be successful.
Among those most concerned? Residents in the neighborhoods at the epicenter of the annual block party.
They’ve closely watched the city’s plans to help prevent a repeat of previous years when thousands of college students have flooded the Hathway Avenue area early in the morning, drinking and partying in the street.
But a rumor circulating Tuesday claimed that access to the homes in that area would be blockaded by police during the event — and that even residents wouldn’t be let in or out.
While law enforcement is taking a new approach to manage this year’s unsanctioned street party, the claims about homes being off limits to their residents aren’t true, according to city spokesperson Christine Wallace.
“Residents will not be trapped in their homes,” she told The Tribune in an email on Wednesday.
As part of its Reality Check series, The Tribune looked into what safety measures the city and its Police Department are putting in place in the area, and how residents may be impacted.
What are the traffic impacts?
Last year’s St. Fratty’s Day celebration drew over 6,000 people to the streets near Cal Poly — and the massive crowd did blockade some residents inside their homes, The Tribune reported after the event.
Police are ultimately trying to prevent the crowd from growing that large this year, but that’ll require some traffic control.
On Saturday morning, police will be directing both vehicle and pedestrian traffic either toward or away from campus, where Cal Poly will be hosting a music festival to hopefully draw students out of the streets, according to Wallace.
Wallace didn’t given specifics as to where the traffic control would be happening but said it would be heaviest in the typical St. Fratty’s Day hot spots.
In 2024, that was Hathway Avenue between Fredericks and Carpenter streets.
“There will be a few areas in the neighborhood adjacent to campus where vehicle and pedestrian traffic will be routed either towards or away from campus and some areas where sidewalk access will be limited,” Wallace said.
But again, residents of the neighborhoods will be allowed to access their homes.
“It’s basically a flow pattern to help guide people headed to the concert on campus and anywhere else in the city, out of that neighborhood,” Wallace said.
A section of California Boulevard will be closed from the intersection of Taft Street to the California Highway Patrol station south of Highway 101. That area will be barricaded, and neither vehicles nor pedestrians will have access, Wallace said.
There are no residences in the blockaded area.
Drivers will have access to southbound Highway 101 off Taft — but northbound traffic will not have access to the freeway entrance off California.
Wallace told The Tribune that traffic plans could change in the coming days as new information surfaces about the upcoming event.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 9:00 AM.
.JPG)