By Dakota Antelman — [email protected]
Plans for the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution are continuing to take shape as organizers enter the final sprint to Patriots Day weekend.
Even so, recent events have complicated some preparations.
Since some questions will remain unanswered until shortly before the celebrations, officials plan to stay flexible. “It’s going to be quite an event,” said police chief Thomas Mulcahy during a public safety presentation to the Select Board last month.
Road restrictions
Mulcahy outlined the police department’s plans in his December 16 presentation. Among other details, he said traffic and crowd control measures will start at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 18, establishing an outer perimeter around a large part of Concord’s northern half.
Road restrictions will continue through April 19. Mulcahy said Monument Square might not fully reopen to traffic until early on April 20.

Mulcahy said there will be satellite parking at many locations in Concord and Carlisle. He said 25 to 30 town buses will transport spectators between events and local lots.
Though there will be options, Mulcahy and Concord250 Executive Committee co-chair Gary Clayton urged anyone coming from out of town to use public transportation and avoid driving.
A numbers game
Crowd estimates for the 250th have varied.
Events around the 200th anniversary in 1975 drew roughly 120,000 visitors and included a presidential visit. In October, town tourism manager Beth Williams suggested the 250th could attract anywhere from 30,000 to 120,000 people.

Mulcahy said public safety planners expect at least 100,000 spectators. But he said the crowd, in an environment “very challenging to secure,” could swell as large as 175,000 between spectators and participants in an expanded anniversary parade.
Beyond the early-morning Dawn Salute, the parade, and an evening drone show, organizers are also eyeing a “250th Block Party” with events primarily in Concord Center.
In a January 3 interview with The Concord Bridge, Executive Committee co-chair Rob Munro said officials can watch hotel bookings for clues about crowd totals. But the draw to the area of the Boston Marathon, set for April 21, will muddy the waters.
Bad weather could also put a damper on local celebrations.
“So, I don’t have a good answer on a date by which we’ll have a better understanding of who’s coming and how many people,” Munro said.
‘The landscape has changed’
Mulcahy said local officials are working with state and federal authorities on security plans for however many people arrive.
He said federal aid for events on the scale of the Concord250 celebration has included K-9 explosive detection teams, air security and tactical operations support, and cyber risk assessments.
Mulcahy acknowledged cell service could be a problem and said officials plan to supplement coverage with technology that includes portable cell towers.

Responding to Bridge questions, Concord police Capt. Brian Goldman said police were “closely monitoring” the recent terrorist attack in New Orleans, where a man drove a truck into a crowd of people.
Just over two weeks after the attack, Executive Committee member Fred Ryan acknowledged at a January 15 committee meeting that “the landscape has changed.”
Ryan, who is involved in public safety planning, said officials are reevaluating plans. Though they already were aware of the threat — and though Goldman emphasized preexisting plans to block roads around the parade route with heavy vehicles — Ryan said officials have “gone back to the drawing table” to make sure events have proper protection.
Town chief financial officer Anthony Ansaldi said Concord does not have enough large vehicles to block “some of those intersections.” Mutual aid from other communities could help bridge the gap. But if help from neighbors isn’t enough, Ansaldi said the town may need to rent extra vehicles.
“We want to make sure the event is safe and people can enjoy it,” Ansaldi said. “And [we want to] make sure that we don’t skimp on something like that.”
While colleagues wrangle DPW trucks and other vehicles, Munro acknowledged uncertainties like the crowd size are “exciting and daunting.”
As a result, he said, plans must be scalable.
“We recognize that,” he said, referencing the uncertainties, “and we have to live in that space.”
