Roads around stadiums on game days - how long until they return to normal flow?

[Declan127]

Citi Field in Queens can be a little unpredictable. I think the last time I was there, the Grand Central was practically clear half an hour after the game ended, but sometimes it can be a couple hours, especially if it's rush hour-- eastbound gets screwed by the Van Wyck, westbound by the BQE and Deegan. Of course, if the Mets are being blown out, traffic starts early. The most traffic I've ever witnessed on a singular roadway has to have been the eastbound Grand Central after the 7th inning of a game the Mets were down 11-zip. Bumper to Bumper, standstill, from at least the Van Wyck backed up all the way to at least Northern Blvd. That had to have been backed up for several hours afterwards, especially since the Van Wyck was worse than usual itself!

[TheHighwayMan3561]

For the Twins, it usually takes about an hour for the ramps to clear out for nights and weekend games. The three main downtown ramps direcly tie into I-394, and the worst part of leaving is the choke point where I-394 westbound drops to one lane across I-94.

Weekday afternoon games however are much more horrific due to the game letting out around the time rush hour starts. That can take 2 hours or more, and I generally try to avoid going toi those games because of that.

I can't speak for US Bank Stadium, because I've never attempted to drive to a Vikings game and always opted to take the light rail from Bloomington.

[Henry]

Traffic can be a nightmare around Wrigley Field, since there is only one Cubs parking lot nearby: the so-called Camry Lot at Clark, Grace and Racine, slightly north-northwest of the park. Sure, there are a couple other lots, but I believe they're for residents only. However, this problem is offset by the El-Train station nearby. At Soldier Field and Chicago Stadium/United Center, the problems have never been as serious, because there's easily much more parking available.

[Ted$8roadFan]

As a student at UMass Amherst, I went to a football games at McGuirk/Alumni Stadium...this was before the U decided to compete in the big leagues. I would always walk, despite my dorm being on the other side of campus. Traffic around campus was horrific enough during move in/move out. I can't imagine how long getting around would be on game days.

[NWI_Irish96]

Traffic can be a nightmare around Wrigley Field, since there is only one Cubs parking lot nearby: the so-called Camry Lot at Clark, Grace and Racine, slightly north-northwest of the park. Sure, there are a couple other lots, but I believe they're for residents only. However, this problem is offset by the El-Train station nearby. At Soldier Field and Chicago Stadium/United Center, the problems have never been as serious, because there's easily much more parking available.

Won't have to worry about traffic next week.

[jeffandnicole]

In Philly - for Eagles games, there are specific traffic patterns after the games that are set up to direct traffic.  After going here: https://www.lincolnfinancialfield.com/parking/ , then by clicking on any lot or link, it will show you the direction you will need to travel to get to the various highways.  As a result, within about 90 minutes after a game, the area in these parking lots have cleared out.  Some people do tailgate post-game - we've become one of them quite often - and will wait for most of the traffic to clear out.

I know there's something not perfect about the map - I park in Lot P for the Eagles game, and the maps show there's only one other lot that should be using 7th Ave after a game...but they're also letting traffic in from elsewhere which slows it down.  The upside is since all the traffic is moving towards Packer Ave, we can use all 5 lanes - the 2 NB lanes, the center turn lane, and the 2 SB lanes, to head north towards Packer.  The downside is at Packer, they have the 2 SB lanes blocked so we have to merge into 3 lanes anyway at that point.  The cop that supposed to manage the intersection just sits in his car rather than controls the light, so that doesn't help either.

It also depends a lot on the police running the intersections.  At the main intersection we cross to go to a game, there used to be 4 cops that had it down pat.  1 controlled the light; the other 3 were within the intersection.  They would yell at drivers doing something stupid by yelling "Are you drunk?" and other things as cars tried doing what they shouldn't be doing.  Pretty hilarious...especially after drinking for 5 or 6 hours ourselves and having a roadie crossing the street to get to the game.  They also realized that adding in their own 3rd phase of the light for diagonal crossing helped out immensely getting close to game time.

This year the cops are different, and their skills at the intersection show it.

Phillies, Flyers & Sixers games have much fewer cops around the ballparks, especially after the game.  For the Flyers and Sixers, it's not too bad. For the Phillies, it's manageable, but we have to go based on the normal light cycles rather than having them over-ridden, so it slows traffic down especially on near-sellouts.

Also after Eagles games, Subway rides are free - Unibet sponsors free rides for everyone leaving the Pattison Ave Station (called something else now), so that helps with encouraging people to use mass transit, and reduces the wait to try to get into the station.

The newer baseball stadium is a few blocks to the east (around 9th? and Pattison -- not sure about the numbered street). I moved away before it opened, and so I don't know how I would park in that area now.

The new ballpark is actually just next to where the old ballpark was; half of it is in the parking lot of the old Vet.  They built a road around the ballpark to give it some sort of downtown feel: Phillies Drive & Hartranft Street, although it's rarely open, and never open during a sporting event.

[jeffandnicole]

One thing to remember is in most cases, cops helping direct traffic are on paid overtime by the teams.  The cops usually aren't there being taken away from their normal duties.  So, if there aren't police helping patrol the traffic, don't blame the city - blame the teams for not paying the OT to allow the cops to be there.

[Rothman]

As a student at UMass Amherst, I went to a football games at McGuirk/Alumni Stadium...this was before the U decided to compete in the big leagues. I would always walk, despite my dorm being on the other side of campus. Traffic around campus was horrific enough during move in/move out. I can't imagine how long getting around would be on game days.

Heh.  Move-in days are horrible in the area, but because of that big lot, game days were never a big deal before they tried upping their football.

Even in the House that Calipari Cheated to Build, traffic for games is quite localized, even on campus.  It's not like the Pleasant Streets back up because of games at the stadiums.

I'd say traffic on University was worse for departing the 4th of July fireworks rather than games.

[Ted$8roadFan]

One thing to remember is in most cases, cops helping direct traffic are on paid overtime by the teams.  The cops usually aren't there being taken away from their normal duties.  So, if there aren't police helping patrol the traffic, don't blame the city - blame the teams for not paying the OT to allow the cops to be there.

I think in some places, they're required to be present and required to be paid overtime.

[mrsman]

In Philly - for Eagles games, there are specific traffic patterns after the games that are set up to direct traffic.  After going here: https://www.lincolnfinancialfield.com/parking/ , then by clicking on any lot or link, it will show you the direction you will need to travel to get to the various highways.  As a result, within about 90 minutes after a game, the area in these parking lots have cleared out.  Some people do tailgate post-game - we've become one of them quite often - and will wait for most of the traffic to clear out.

I know there's something not perfect about the map - I park in Lot P for the Eagles game, and the maps show there's only one other lot that should be using 7th Ave after a game...but they're also letting traffic in from elsewhere which slows it down.  The upside is since all the traffic is moving towards Packer Ave, we can use all 5 lanes - the 2 NB lanes, the center turn lane, and the 2 SB lanes, to head north towards Packer.  The downside is at Packer, they have the 2 SB lanes blocked so we have to merge into 3 lanes anyway at that point.  The cop that supposed to manage the intersection just sits in his car rather than controls the light, so that doesn't help either.

It also depends a lot on the police running the intersections.  At the main intersection we cross to go to a game, there used to be 4 cops that had it down pat.  1 controlled the light; the other 3 were within the intersection.  They would yell at drivers doing something stupid by yelling "Are you drunk?" and other things as cars tried doing what they shouldn't be doing.  Pretty hilarious...especially after drinking for 5 or 6 hours ourselves and having a roadie crossing the street to get to the game.  They also realized that adding in their own 3rd phase of the light for diagonal crossing helped out immensely getting close to game time.

This year the cops are different, and their skills at the intersection show it.

Phillies, Flyers & Sixers games have much fewer cops around the ballparks, especially after the game.  For the Flyers and Sixers, it's not too bad. For the Phillies, it's manageable, but we have to go based on the normal light cycles rather than having them over-ridden, so it slows traffic down especially on near-sellouts.

Also after Eagles games, Subway rides are free - Unibet sponsors free rides for everyone leaving the Pattison Ave Station (called something else now), so that helps with encouraging people to use mass transit, and reduces the wait to try to get into the station.

The newer baseball stadium is a few blocks to the east (around 9th? and Pattison -- not sure about the numbered street). I moved away before it opened, and so I don't know how I would park in that area now.

The new ballpark is actually just next to where the old ballpark was; half of it is in the parking lot of the old Vet.  They built a road around the ballpark to give it some sort of downtown feel: Phillies Drive & Hartranft Street, although it's rarely open, and never open during a sporting event.

The beginning paragraphs sound extremely annoying.  Police presence is supposed to help with the traffic flow, not hinder it.

Glad to see that they're doing better now, though.

But a lot of this stuff doesn't really need police, though.  Modern traffic controls and systems can be used to time the signals appropriately and to even do a better job with some of the lane control.


For the different sports stadiums (and to an extent the concert venues as well, the Hollywood Bowl in particular has terrible traffic), do people notice that traffic is worse at the beginning or the end of the event.  Certainly, the end is terrible as everyone tends to leave at the same time, but at the beginnings there is a lot of queing as everyone has to stop to pay a parking fee.  Plus, for many evening events, the start of the event will coincide with the end of the evening rush hour.

[ZLoth]

This goes back to what bothers me with the stadiums in the DFW area.

The Dallas Stars (Hockey) and the Dallas Mavericks (Basketball) both play at the American Airlines Center. That is served by nearby Victory Station which is operated by DART Orange and Green Lines, thus alleviating some of the traffic pressures and limited parking in the area.

However, the Texas Rangers (Baseball) and Dallas Cowboys (Football) are in Arlington. AT&T Stadium has a capacity of up to 105,000 attendees including standing room only attendance. That city has no public transportation system, and parking can range from $20 to $125+ per vehicle for an event.

[webny99]

For the different sports stadiums (and to an extent the concert venues as well, the Hollywood Bowl in particular has terrible traffic), do people notice that traffic is worse at the beginning or the end of the event.  Certainly, the end is terrible as everyone tends to leave at the same time, but at the beginnings there is a lot of queing as everyone has to stop to pay a parking fee.  Plus, for many evening events, the start of the event will coincide with the end of the evening rush hour.

In Buffalo at least, it's normally worse in the immediate vicinity of Bills stadium before the game, and worse on the outbound roads after the game, because much of the traffic hits the highway at once rather than being spread out as it is before the game.

[mrsman]

This goes back to what bothers me with the stadiums in the DFW area.

The Dallas Stars (Hockey) and the Dallas Mavericks (Basketball) both play at the American Airlines Center. That is served by nearby Victory Station which is operated by DART Orange and Green Lines, thus alleviating some of the traffic pressures and limited parking in the area.

However, the Texas Rangers (Baseball) and Dallas Cowboys (Football) are in Arlington. AT&T Stadium has a capacity of up to 105,000 attendees including standing room only attendance. That city has no public transportation system, and parking can range from $20 to $125+ per vehicle for an event.

That is extremely frustrating.  I wonder if there is a legal barrier in providing dedicated bus service.

Even if Arlington does not have its own transit system, would DART be allowed to provide an express bus connecting Downtown Dallas (and the light rail) via I-30 HOV lanes to the stadiums?

I can't speak for TX, but here in the DC area many suburban transit systems do operate express buses to a Metro station or all the way into DC, even though DC is outside of their service area.  They cannot operate as local transit in DC, meaning that a passenger cannot both embark and depart within DC limits.

And in the opposite direction, up until last year when the silver line was extended, WMATA provided bus service all the way to Dulles Airport.  None of the local buses in that area are within WMATA service area, yet WMATA was allowed to service the airport, since it is an important destination.

So I guess there may be legal barriers to providing something like this, in competition with some very expensive private shuttles.

https://gametimetransportation.com/product/nfl-fan-bus-att-stadium-transportation

[ZLoth]

This goes back to what bothers me with the stadiums in the DFW area.

The Dallas Stars (Hockey) and the Dallas Mavericks (Basketball) both play at the American Airlines Center. That is served by nearby Victory Station which is operated by DART Orange and Green Lines, thus alleviating some of the traffic pressures and limited parking in the area.

However, the Texas Rangers (Baseball) and Dallas Cowboys (Football) are in Arlington. AT&T Stadium has a capacity of up to 105,000 attendees including standing room only attendance. That city has no public transportation system, and parking can range from $20 to $125+ per vehicle for an event.

That is extremely frustrating.  I wonder if there is a legal barrier in providing dedicated bus service.

Yes, there is, and it's a city decision. Texas has a statewide 6.25% sales tax, but cities can apply an additional 2% sales tax. If the city wants to participate in the DART system, then 1% of that available 2% sales tax has to be dedicated to participate in DART.

DART does have light rail to DFW airport directly, and a light rail/shuttlebus to Love Field.

[Rothman]

For the different sports stadiums (and to an extent the concert venues as well, the Hollywood Bowl in particular has terrible traffic), do people notice that traffic is worse at the beginning or the end of the event.  Certainly, the end is terrible as everyone tends to leave at the same time, but at the beginnings there is a lot of queing as everyone has to stop to pay a parking fee.  Plus, for many evening events, the start of the event will coincide with the end of the evening rush hour.

In Buffalo at least, it's normally worse in the immediate vicinity of Bills stadium before the game, and worse on the outbound roads after the game, because much of the traffic hits the highway at once rather than being spread out as it is before the game.

I caught up to that lump of drunk idiots this past weekend heading eastbound on the Thruway.  Very frustrating traffic, especially when you throw semis into the mix that insist on passing other semis in the midst of the drunk idiots.

[mrsman]

This goes back to what bothers me with the stadiums in the DFW area.

The Dallas Stars (Hockey) and the Dallas Mavericks (Basketball) both play at the American Airlines Center. That is served by nearby Victory Station which is operated by DART Orange and Green Lines, thus alleviating some of the traffic pressures and limited parking in the area.

However, the Texas Rangers (Baseball) and Dallas Cowboys (Football) are in Arlington. AT&T Stadium has a capacity of up to 105,000 attendees including standing room only attendance. That city has no public transportation system, and parking can range from $20 to $125+ per vehicle for an event.

That is extremely frustrating.  I wonder if there is a legal barrier in providing dedicated bus service.

Yes, there is, and it's a city decision. Texas has a statewide 6.25% sales tax, but cities can apply an additional 2% sales tax. If the city wants to participate in the DART system, then 1% of that available 2% sales tax has to be dedicated to participate in DART.

DART does have light rail to DFW airport directly, and a light rail/shuttlebus to Love Field.

A shame.  In some areas, a bus can be provided, even without being in the service area, because the bus isn't there to service the people of Arlington by providing regular bus service there -- it is to provide service to the people of Dallas (and other DART communities) to connect them to where they want to go that is outside their service area, but an important destination nonetheless.

[webny99]

For the different sports stadiums (and to an extent the concert venues as well, the Hollywood Bowl in particular has terrible traffic), do people notice that traffic is worse at the beginning or the end of the event.  Certainly, the end is terrible as everyone tends to leave at the same time, but at the beginnings there is a lot of queing as everyone has to stop to pay a parking fee.  Plus, for many evening events, the start of the event will coincide with the end of the evening rush hour.

In Buffalo at least, it's normally worse in the immediate vicinity of Bills stadium before the game, and worse on the outbound roads after the game, because much of the traffic hits the highway at once rather than being spread out as it is before the game.

I caught up to that lump of drunk idiots this past weekend heading eastbound on the Thruway.  Very frustrating traffic, especially when you throw semis into the mix that insist on passing other semis in the midst of the drunk idiots.

Lucky you   I've dealt with that a few times and the left lane clogging and micro passing is so bad you're better off just sticking to the right lane to avoid the constant speeding and braking cycles... but then people inevitably cutting in from the right is what causes/exacerbates those cycles. It's a no-win 40 mile slog.

[jeffandnicole]

In Philly - for Eagles games, there are specific traffic patterns after the games that are set up to direct traffic.  After going here: https://www.lincolnfinancialfield.com/parking/ , then by clicking on any lot or link, it will show you the direction you will need to travel to get to the various highways.  As a result, within about 90 minutes after a game, the area in these parking lots have cleared out.  Some people do tailgate post-game - we've become one of them quite often - and will wait for most of the traffic to clear out....

The beginning paragraphs sound extremely annoying.  Police presence is supposed to help with the traffic flow, not hinder it.

But a lot of this stuff doesn't really need police, though.  Modern traffic controls and systems can be used to time the signals appropriately and to even do a better job with some of the lane control.

It was a bit annoying, especially at the beginning.  But the regulars are used to it now.  There's actually a bigger purpose in mind here - it forces the vehicular traffic flow away from the pedestrian traffic flow.  As everyone leaves the stadium, the 'box' around the Linc is nearly free of vehicles, allowing pedestrians to more freely walk to their cars without interference.  The traffic patterns force traffic outwards away from the stadium and the lots where they tend to be able to flow more freely. 

The cops at the intersections also help keep the intersections free of both traffic that would be blocking the box when they're ready to change the light (at least when the cops are competent).  And keeps it free from jaywalking peds (again, when the cops are competent).

For the different sports stadiums (and to an extent the concert venues as well, the Hollywood Bowl in particular has terrible traffic), do people notice that traffic is worse at the beginning or the end of the event.  Certainly, the end is terrible as everyone tends to leave at the same time, but at the beginnings there is a lot of queing as everyone has to stop to pay a parking fee.  Plus, for many evening events, the start of the event will coincide with the end of the evening rush hour.

Overall, just before the event, it's bad.  The 'regulars' know when to get there, what the price is, has their cash/card ready, etc.  And they either get there early, or know how to get to their lots.  One of my theories is that many of the latecomers expect to pull up 15 minutes before the game without a problem.  They try to get in the closest lots, which are filled.  They don't have their money ready having ignored every sign telling them the amount, then they give the attendant grief because parking is too expensive as if he or she will be able to do anything about it.  Obviously this isn't everyone, but there's enough people that it slows things down.

(Note: This occurs at toll booths also.  Car pulls up and asks how much is the toll, as they have ignored all the pricing signs.  Tell them the amount, then they have to dig out their wallet or purse to look for money, and they finally pull out their money.  Then they'll tell you tolls are too expensive, and where they're from they don't have tolls, except the state probably does have tolls.  When they finally pull away, the next person pulls up, wonders why I'm so slow.  Then they proceed to ask how much the toll is as they ignored the pricing sign right next to them while they were waiting, then they dig out their wallet or purse looking for money...)

Tailgating for the Eagles games, where lots open up to 7 hours before gametime, the traffic during the first 4 hours will generally ebb and flow.  The final 3 hours before the game starts seeing more jammed traffic which is a combination of people needing to find lots that aren't filled, and pedestrian crossing times increase as more people are crossing streets towards the game.

In the playoffs, the issue is exacerbated as there's more groups of 2 going to the game which means more cars, and fewer regulars when means people are not familiar with the traffic patterns.  This is especially true for baseball.  For football, there's actually a good amount of regulars going to the game so the issue isn't as bad.  Plus, from experience, if the home team wins, people tend to stick around longer.  Tailgating 2 hours after a game...with work the next day?  Ah, it's a good thing I can work at home the following day.

[jeffandnicole]

Here's another factor also:  In playoff games, unless it's a huge blowout loss of the home team, fans are staying till the end.  Instead of several thousand fans slowly leaving in the later innings, the fans stay till the final pitch.  That's 45k or so fans leaving at the same time.  Leaving takes a lot longer than normal.

[Bruce]

Even if Arlington does not have its own transit system, would DART be allowed to provide an express bus connecting Downtown Dallas (and the light rail) via I-30 HOV lanes to the stadiums?

Arlington briefly had a bus line operated by DART with city funding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Arlington_Xpress

[1995hoo]

Regarding bus shuttles and the like, I recall there was a controversy involving FedEx Field. WMATA initially provided shuttle buses from the Landover stop on the Orange Line (prior to the Blue Line extension to Largo opening) for $5 roundtrip, but beginning in 2008 a federal regulation prohibited publicly funded shuttle service from public transit agency when a privately operated service is willing do the job and that was apparently deemed cost-ineffective (news reports said the fare would have needed to be $20 roundtrip to make the service viable), so people wanting to take the subway now walk a mile from the Morgan Boulevard stop to the stadium.

[zzcarp]

In Denver, Empower Field at Mile High is adjacent to I-25. Usually the Broncos home games are the late game, so they kick off 2:15-2:30 local time and end around 5:30 local time. On 9/10 I ran into stop and go traffic on NB I-25 in the vicinity of the stadium at 7pm, whereas everything else up to that point had been free-flowing.

For Coors Field, there's usually a surge for about an hour after the game on Park Avenue and some of the surrounding streets in LoDo, but rarely do I find much impact on I-25 itself or other freeways.

[jmacswimmer]

FedEx Field has been mentioned several times in this thread, so I'll chime in with my experience from the game last night - it was great! We arrived roughly a half-hour after lots opened and zipped right in - being in one of the lots north of the stadium meant exiting the beltway at exit 17 (versus 16 for the east-side lots & 15 for the south-side lots) and turning left onto Brightseat Rd, which gets a temporary triple-left for gameday traffic instead of the normal double-left from MD 202. Leaving was surprisingly easy too - we parked close to the exit within the parking lot and were directed out onto Sean Taylor Rd within a few minutes of reaching the car. The light at Sheriff Rd was deactivated with all traffic being forced straight towards MD 202, then at MD 202 cones were set up to allow a triple-right towards the beltway. I think we were on the beltway within 10 minutes of getting in our car, which is honestly impressive for leaving a sold-out game. The beltway was busy with a slight slowdown at the merge point north of exit 17, but started gradually thinning out past exits 19 & 22.

I did see an announcement on social media before the game that the Commanders & WMATA reached a deal to keep the Metro open later than usual to allow for fans heading home after the game.

[1995hoo]

I fell asleep by halftime, but the media accounts this morning say a large portion of the crowd left early last night in view of what a stinker of a game it was. If so, that surely contributed to ease of leaving.

[jmacswimmer]

I fell asleep by halftime, but the media accounts this morning say a large portion of the crowd left early last night in view of what a stinker of a game it was. If so, that surely contributed to ease of leaving.

The only notable early exodus I witnessed was when the Bears put the game away with about 4 minutes left in the 4th - a sizable chunk of Commanders fans left at that point (leaving Bears fans such as myself to spend the last few minutes together celebrating the first win in almost a year), but up to that point I thought it remained fairly packed. But yes, even that small head-start by Commanders fans likely helped matters, and the fact that the beltway would otherwise be fairly quiet at 11:30 PM on a weekday.