The Seymour Oktoberfest board has decided not to expand its carnival area to East Second Street.
That means the street will remain open to vehicles during the 47th running of the three-day festival Thursday through Saturday.
"There will not be additional road closures at this time," said Oktoberfest board of directors member Kendra Zumhingst.
Instead, the city will set up protective barriers in a diagonal line at the south corner where East Second Street meets Indianapolis Avenue in an attempt to better protect people walking between the main festival area and the carnival in the B and O Parking Lot.
The board had planned to request the closure of East Second Street from the railroad tracks to Ewing Street to spread out the carnival to make it safer, said Oktoberfest President Ben Stahl.
After receiving feedback from a couple of business owners in the area who were concerned about the closure’s impact on their customers, the board decided not to pursue the closure at this time.
Streets to be closed beginning Tuesday evening are West Second Street from the railroad tracks at Indianapolis Avenue to Walnut Street; Chestnut Street from Tipton Street (U.S. 50) to just north of city hall; St. Louis Avenue from Jeffersonville Avenue to Walnut Street; West Third Street from city hall to A Total Tan; and Indianapolis Avenue from East Third Street to Jeffersonville Avenue.
Although the carnival will not expand this year, the board will revisit the issue again for next year’s festival, Zumhingst said.
"The goal is to always try and implement suggestions to help make our festival safe and a great community event for businesses and nonprofits," Zumhingst said.