Gainesville law enforcement prepares for homecoming parade

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) -Thousands of people are expected to fill the streets of Gainesville on Friday for the University of Florida's annual homecoming parade.

As one of the largest student-run parades in the nation, traffic is heavily impacted.

This year's homecoming parade begins at 13th St. and Museum Road, and Sergeant Lynne Valdes of the traffic unit says that patience is key.

"If you're coming to the parade arrive early, be patient there will be road closures there will be detours," she shared. "Be vigilant there will be people walking around, there may be officers actually giving you instructions on where to park and things like that so kind of just bring your patience to the parade."

The parade will then travel North and turn at University Avenue where it will process until reaching Bo Diddley Plaza on Main street.

"Roughly right now we're expecting about 18,000 people coming to the parade we have over 150 floats in the parade [and] with that is obviously going to bring increased law enforcement," Sgt. Valdes stated. "We have officers like school resource we also have the traffic unit basically it's gonna be an all hands on deck."

The parade commences at 12 P.M.