Wrigleyville residents, Cubs fans meet to talk upcoming season and safety

FOX 32 NEWS - We are three weeks away from the Cubs home opener, but construction is still in full swing around Wrigley Field.

Residents and fans packed an annual meeting Monday night at the Chicago Police Department 19th District headquarters. The meeting was meant to go over last year's baseball season, but many wanted to talk about this season and safety.

Construction near the ballpark continues on the new plaza, hotel and administration building.

“I’m a little nervous about the opening week, it is still very much a construction site," said Alderman Tom Tunney at the meeting, but he says the city is ready for the season to start. “The performance by the team was spectacular and the city never looked better."

Most in the annual meeting, including Tunney and Chicago Police, were happy with last year's historic World Series win, of course, and the way the city handled the major event. 

"The World Series and that parade went about as well as we can expect with very minimal incidents,” said Chicago Police Deputy Chief Al Nagode.

The Chicago Department of Transportation said more street lights have been installed throughout 12 blocks, with 6 more blocks to go in the near future. Also several roads have been resurfaced.

City officials said, at least for the beginning of the season, fans should expect to see similar parking restrictions that were in place during the playoffs and more police officers.

“Obviously we don't know what to expect, it's been 100 years, we don't know what the crowds are going to be,” said Nagode. 

He said they don't have any actual intelligence of anything to be concerned about, but the first week at home in April should be a busy one.

One new thing this year will be overnight patrols around the ballpark, working closely with CPD.

Chicago police officials say on average for night games last year, they wrote 40-60 more parking citations than 2015 and overall there were fewer arrests.

Ninety-thousand fans used the free shuttle, and more than five-thousand people used free bicycle services.