Vroom vroom: Boise leaders work to reduce weekend cruising on downtown streets

Ian Max Stevenson

Boise officials are aiming to crack down on weekend cruising downtown, which can bring sounds reminiscent of a racetrack to the city’s bustling core.

The city’s police department has marshaled officers to issue citations on weekends, and city councilors are considering passing a related ordinance.

Cruising refers to when people congregate on public streets to race or display their vehicles. On Friday and Saturday nights in Boise, pickup trucks and cars with loud engines and sometimes unusual light displays do laps on Main Street and West Idaho Street, mainly between 14th Street and North Capitol Boulevard.

Cars rev their engines while at a stop light on Main Street in Boise on Friday. Loud vehicles circling the downtown blocks of Boise are a common sight and sound on Friday and Saturday nights.
Cars rev their engines while at a stop light on Main Street in Boise on Friday. Loud vehicles circling the downtown blocks of Boise are a common sight and sound on Friday and Saturday nights.

On Friday and Saturday night, Aug. 19 and 20, Boise police, with help from the state police and Nampa police, made 114 traffic stops and issued 74 speeding citations, 13 citations for equipment violations — meaning improper exhaust and lighting — and more than 20 citations for “various traffic issues,” said spokesperson Haley Williams in an email.

The City Council may also take specific action to try to curb the issue.

“I believe council is interested in exploring a new ordinance to address the issue of cruising,” said city spokesperson Maria Weeg in an email.

Cars rev their engines while at a stop light on Idaho Street in Boise on Friday. Loud vehicles circling the downtown blocks of Boise are a common sight and sound on Friday and Saturday nights.
Cars rev their engines while at a stop light on Idaho Street in Boise on Friday. Loud vehicles circling the downtown blocks of Boise are a common sight and sound on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Downtown Boise Association, a nonprofit that oversees downtown spaces, is also concerned about the issue and planned to hold a meeting on the topic the week of Aug. 29.

“Business owners have voiced concern about negative effects from a portion of the cruisers and people who gather in areas of downtown as part of the cruise, so we are holding a forum to listen about what they are experiencing and see if there are any solutions we can work on,” said Jennifer Hensley, the group’s executive director, in an email to the Statesman.

A Boise police liaison officer will attend the meeting, Williams said.

Boise police have also recently closed parking spots near 14th and Main streets on Friday and Saturday nights “due to a new problem of crime activity in that specific area” that includes “some vandalism,” Williams said.

“Further discussions about future options to curb noise and other issues impacting downtown are ongoing,” she said.

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