Congestion, chaos from Mexican Independence Day crowds must be addressed, City Council members say

Streets downtown and in many neighborhoods were clogged with people celebrating Mexican Independence Day over the weekend. Here, hundreds pack State Street in front of the Chicago Theatre late Friday. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times)

Chicago’s Mexican American community needs a daylong downtown parade or festival to celebrate its ethnic pride and avoid the crowd control problems and traffic chaos of last weekend, several City Council members of Mexican descent said Monday.

Their call for a downtown location to express ethnic pride followed a weekend of Mexican Independence Day celebrations that inconvenienced thousands, endangered others and injured at least two police officers, one of whom nearly lost half an ear.