Tips for avoiding Downtown traffic today

• Oktoberfest Zinzinnati%3A Friday%3A 5 p.m.-midnight%3B Saturday%3A 11a.m.-midnight%3B Sunday%3A 11a.m.-10 p.m. Streets along Fifth between Vine and Broadway will close starting at 9 a.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday%2C Sept. 22.
• Cincinnati Comic Expo%3A Friday%3A 3-8 p.m.%3B Saturday%3A 10 a.m.-7 p.m.%3B Sunday%3A 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Bengals vs Tennessee Titans%3A Sunday at 1 p.m. The following streets will be closed%3A Elm between Second and Mehring Way%2C Freedom between Elm and Race%2C and Freedom between Walnut and Joe Nuxhall Way. Lane restrictions on Race%2C Rosa Parks and Walnut streets.
• University of Cincinnati vs Miami%3A Saturday at 7 p.m. Pep rally Friday from 5-7 p.m. Joe Nuxhall Way will close starting at 1 p.m. Freedom Way from Joe Nuxhall Way to Elm Street will close for the parade at 3%3A30 p.m. Traffic will be maintained on Walnut and Rosa Parks during the parade with Cincinnati police directing traffic. The following roads will be closed 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.%3A Elm between Second and Mehring Way%2C Freedom Way between Race and Elm.

Prepare yourselves. Traffic could cause headaches this weekend.

More than half-a-million people are expected to flock to Downtown over the weekend to attend an onslaught of events, including the 39th Annual Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, Comic Expo, University of Cincinnati homecoming festivities and a Bengals game.

Cincinnati police officers are scheduled to come in from other districts to ease the traffic strain.

But Police Sgt. Greg Lewton said problems are inevitable.

"Oktoberfest blocks off our entire Central Business section Downtown and it creates a strain on traffic, especially during rush hour," he said. "We try to make it as easy as we can, but there are still going to be headaches."

Being prepared will make it easier, Lewton said. Have a plan of where to park and how to get there.

"Come down early, go get something to eat, take a walk in the park or something until the event begins," he said. "Don't follow the people in front of you thinking that's the only way in. There are so many alternative routes."

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati will be the biggest event of the weekend, blocking Fifth Street between Vine and Sentinel streets. The event drew more than 600,000 visitors throughout the weekend last year, and that came with a storm so strong it blew tents over Friday night.

This year, Nick and Drew Lachey are the the grand marshals of the event, there's no rain in the forecast and organizers formed a new partnership with the University of Cincinnati to bring homecoming activities Downtown, too.

Patrick Sheeran, vice president of Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, said he thinks this year's Oktoberfest will have a higher turnout than last year's.

"Last year was a record-breaking year for us," he said. "Oktoberfest takes place in the core of the city where hundreds of thousands of people work on a daily basis and all of them get to work and all of them have a place to park."

The UC Alumni Association and UC Athletics will conduct a homecoming pep rally on Fountain Square Friday starting at 5 p.m., and the Homecoming Parade also will march through Downtown.

The parade will shut down streets around the city. It starts outside Great American Ball Park, travels west on Freedom Way and ends on Elm Street outside Paul Brown Stadium.

Joe Nuxhall Way between Mehring Way and 2nd Street will close beginning at 2 p.m. for parade lineup, and Freedom Way will close completely from 4-5 p.m.

The Homecoming game against Miami University is it 7 p.m. Saturday at Paul Brown Stadium, which could draw 65,535 fans.

Cincinnati's Comic Expo will take place blocks away from Oktoberfest at the Duke Energy Convention Center Friday through Sunday. Matt Bredestege, one of the expo's administrators, said at least 15,000 people are expected to attend.

Add to that the fans coming Downtown Sunday for the Bengals' 1 p.m. game against the Tennessee Titans, and it will be a perfect storm of traffic congestion.

But Lewton says everything will be OK. Cincinnati police have handled hordes of people Downtown before and they can do it again.

"It's routine anymore," he said. "We've had weekends where we have seven events occurring on the same day in various parts of the city, and it puts a big task on our shoulders, but we always seem to manage through it."

All of Downtown's parking lots and garages will be accessible, even those on blocked streets. Side streets will be open so visitors can access the lots, Lewton said.

"It's just a matter of knowing where you do that at, and it might require you walk four or five blocks," he said.

Construction adds another obstacle to officers tasked with directing traffic and maintaining order this weekend. There's streetcar construction, sewer construction, building construction and more. But Lewton says he is prepared — additional manpower will be placed in strategic locations, and some Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies have also been brought in.

Cincinnati police never disclose how many officers will patrol an event for security reasons.

One thing to watch out for is thefts from autos. With more than 600,000 people piling into cars, there will be an influx of vehicles downtown.

"Don't leave anything visible in your car when you park it that would cause somebody to say, 'Oh, I want that,'" Lewton said.

Besides thefts from vehicles, Lewton said visitors tend to be responsible when it comes to other crimes. Even OVIs aren't as high as some would think, which may be surprising, considering attendees are coming to an event essentially focused on beer.

Luckily for those planning to indulge in Cincinnati's German heritage, a herd of taxis will stampede Downtown as well. And police will corral them.

Vendors are scheduled to begin moving into the six blocks of Fifth Street Friday, so factor that into the evening commute. But when most Cincinnatians return to work Monday, the streets will be clear.

"Sunday night we start cleaning up the mess and Monday morning it should be back to normal," Lewton said.