BOISE -- The City of Boise is trying out a new plan that will designate a section of downtown as a zone for pick-up or drop-off only.
The zone will extend between Capitol Boulevard and South 5th Street from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. every Friday and Saturday.
The initiative is designed to give people a safer way to get in and out of vehicles downtown. The drop-off and pick-up zone will be open to taxis, ride-shared companies like Lyft and Uber, and the general public.
Drivers will have to park outside of that area during the hours the drop-off zone is in effect.
In addition to improving safety, the city is hoping the plan will also improve traffic flow and cut down on congestion in front of downtown businesses.
The pilot program is scheduled to begin this Friday, Nov. 2, and run through the end of the year. After that, the city will decide whether to implement the plan permanently on Friday and Saturday.
This is not the first time Boise has sought to implement a drop-off only zone. City officials piloted a similar plan in April 2018.
Although the official pilot was a success, the city says, they ran into congestion issues because of limited curbside space on the south side of Main Street between 5th Street and 6th Street.