Mpls Downtown Improvement District

Thanksgiving night will give drivers their once-a-year chance to drive down Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis to enjoy the holiday decorations.

 

The Downtown Improvement District has spruced up the mall with about half a million lights, or 23 miles worth if they were stretched end to end. Light poles are strung with 300 illuminated snowflakes and 1,300 feet of garland, and planters are newly replanted with 2,200 spruce tips.

 

Nicollet Mall is normally reserved for buses, taxis and emergency vehicles. But a city ordinance allows cars to drive down it one night a year, Thanksgiving night from 6 to 10 p.m.

 

The speed limit for the occasion is 10 miles per hour, and drivers are not allowed to stop. You must enter or exit at Washington Avenue or Grant Street.