Area residents can expect to see a lot of people and trucks in town this weekend for the Daytona Truck Meet.

The local police departments have no plans to close the area bridges unless there is a public safety emergency. However, you should expect unusually heavy traffic and delays around the event areas, on the bridges, and beachside through the weekend.

The 2021 Daytona Truck Meet – billed as the largest truck show in the world – is scheduled to begin Friday and end Sunday. The event is expected to draw more than 5,000 custom trucks and more than 35,000 spectators to the Daytona Beach area.

The greatest concentration of traffic is expected to be around Daytona International Speedway and One Daytona. Events will take place at the Speedway between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. One Daytona has events until midnight through the weekend. For event and ticket information, visit www.DaytonaTruckMeet.com. 

Once the events conclude, there is expected to be traffic congestion along Atlantic Avenue/A1A, as has been normal during past versions of this event.

Police and traffic control officers will be on-duty in the area of the Speedway and along Atlantic /A1A to assist with event traffic and local traffic. In addition, the city’s Public Works staff have been placing signage on beachside streets to help prevent truck meet attendees from driving through the neighborhoods. 

Daytona Beach residents can pick up a pink pass to more easily navigate Daytona Beach bridges in the event of a closure (this only applies to bridges within Daytona Beach city limits and only in the event that they are forced to close in a public safety emergency).

Traffic and Bridge Closures during Large Events in Volusia County

In an announcement on June 4, 2021, the City of Daytona Beach said:

After recently being forced to shut down bridges due to massive event crowds, the city of Daytona Beach is issuing beachside access passes in the event the bridges are temporarily closed. People who live or work on the beachside in Daytona Beach are encouraged to pick up a pink pass from the Daytona Beach Police Department, which has reinstated a public safety procedure when eastbound traffic on the city’s bridges needs to be restricted during large special events. The Police Department is issuing pink passes to people who live or work on the beachside so that if the eastbound travel lanes on the bridges are temporarily closed (like last Saturday evening), people with passes will still be able to access their homes or places of employment via the Main Street Bridge. The pink passes can be picked up 24/7 from the Police Department Headquarters at 129 Valor Blvd. or from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at the Police Department’s Beachside Precinct at 510 Harvey Ave. Persons receiving a pink pass will need to show proof of beachside residency or employment. The pink pass should be displayed on dashboards when needed. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3fQLqJm or call (386) 671-5100.

Later, after much public commenting and questions, they posted the following:

We want to clarify a few things based on feedback we’ve been receiving.1) The “Pink P” is designed to work like a pass for locals who want to get on beachside quickly via Main Street without having to deal with the special event traffic from the high-rise bridges at ISB, Seabreeze or Orange.2) If you don’t have a “Pink P”, you will not be able to use the eastbound lane of the Main Street Bridge during special events. That side of the bridge will be reserved for those with the “Pink P.”3) We do NOT plan to shut down any of the beachside bridges. The only time that might happen is if there’s a safety issue.

Daytona Beach Police Department’s Response to the Upcoming Event

The city of Daytona also issued the following warnings, after last year’s massive event resulted in several charges.

Our officers will be out patrolling the area to ensure everyone is following the laws. We have enlisted the help of surrounding agencies to help with the influx of visitors. If you are participating in the event and staying in our city, please be mindful of our residents, our city ordinances, and our state laws. Below is a list of violations and/or complaints from a similar event in September of 2020:

• Disorderly conduct
• Disorderly intoxication
• Open containers of alcohol
• Violation of noise ordinances
• Reckless driving
• Careless driving
• Speeding
• Burnouts
• Rapid throttle advancing for the purpose of attention
• RacingBlocking intersections
• Blocking crosswalks
• Riding on the exterior of a vehicle
• Improper use of horn
• Red or blue lights visible from the front of vehicle
• Obscene writing on vehicles
• Driving vehicle on the sidewalk or bike path
• Texting while driving
• Leaving an unattended vehicle running
• Visible exhaust smoke over 5 seconds
• Exhaust system noise

We are aware that many people planning to attend this event are condemning these behaviors. We appreciate that. Please continue to encourage other participants to follow the laws and ordinances. We truly do not want to have to enforce them, but we will, to the fullest extent, with zero tolerance.