With just 10 weeks before the Braves’ first pitch at the new SunTrust Park, Cobb officials are expressing concerns on whether everything will be ready.
“The Braves are going to be ready,” Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon said. “The stadium will be ready. But we still don’t have agreements among multiple jurisdictions on a traffic study.”
Cobb Commission Chair Mike Boyce has warned that the county could not afford any missteps.
“We’re all in this ship together,” Boyce said. “We’re not going to fail on opening day.”
The Chairman in January named a 28-member joint task force for the Braves stadium with the aim of making the ballpark a success.
The task force will be an advisory body under the auspices of District Commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the Cumberland area. Ott put forward a list of 28 names of private individuals, public officials and employees of the county, as well as business owners.
The Braves revealed the first facet of their traffic plan last fall, returning the starting time of games to 7:30 p.m. and noted the 14 primary access points to SunTrust Park, which will open in April.
In a mid-January briefing, the Braves and key partners unveiled Cobb County’s Transportation Management Plan. Also announced were additional game day parking spaces, a Braves-operated game day shuttle, the launch of A-List season parking sales and new partnerships with Uber and Waze.
“The amount of planning and coordination that has taken place between our organization and our partners is staggering, and today’s announcement is a testament to their hard work,” said Mike Plant, president, development for the Braves. “With three months to go until Opening Day, we have already secured significantly more parking than we had for a ballpark that is much smaller. Additionally, we have already analyzed and forecasted traffic flow through every corridor entering our development. While we know this plan will continue to evolve, we couldn’t be more pleased with where we are at this time.”
Last fall, the Braves and their partners – Cobb County Department of Transportation, Cobb County Police Department and Kimley-Horn – provided an overview of the collaborative approach to transportation management where they shared plans to return the starting time of their games to 7:30 p.m. and detailed the benefits of the 14 primary access points to SunTrust Park, which will open in April.
The Cobb County Transportation Management Plan outlines the community’s strategic approach to managing vehicular and pedestrian access to SunTrust Park. In crafting the plan, Lieutenant J.D. Lorens said the county focused on minimizing the impact of traffic on daily commuters by utilizing the 14 primary points of access to ballpark.
The Cobb County Police Department will have uniformed officers at approximately 30 intersections around the ballpark to help support game day travel. Combined with a variety of access enhancements in the surrounding area, such as the utilization of contraflow lanes – reversing the traffic flow of designated lanes before and after games – and the construction of a dedicated exit lane from I-285 that funnels into The Battery Atlanta, these steps will facilitate safe and efficient vehicular and pedestrian travel.
Lorens encouraged property owners in the area that are interested in parking vehicles on game day to apply for a permit with the County so they can work them into the overall plan.
“Our Transportation Management Plan is a working document that will continue to evolve as we move toward Opening Day and more parking lots come online,” said Lt. Lorens. “We have identified the most critical intersections based on the current distribution of parking, but we know more parking will come online as property owners in the area apply for and are granted permits to park cars. Once this takes place, we will integrate them into this plan.”
The Braves also announced they would be able to offer more than 11,000 parking spaces owned or leased by the organization for game day. This is already 2,500 more spaces than were available at Turner Field, all serving a ballpark that features roughly 8,000 fewer seats, with more parking to be added prior to Opening Day. The Braves will begin selling season parking to A-List members immediately, with single game parking to be sold when single game tickets go on sale March 10.
The Braves also unveiled plans to launch a private shuttle service that will serve both their managed parking lots and key points of interest in Metro Atlanta. Specific routes will be released closer to Opening Day.
In Waze and Uber, the Braves have identified two leaders in transportation technology to help provide for safe, efficient options for fans headed to the ballpark.
Waze, the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app, will collaborate with the Braves and Cobb County to share data and real-time updates with fans and commuters. Waze currently serves more than 760,000 active users in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville area, and its real-time updates will enhance the data being provided by Cobb County DOT from its on-site traffic control center. Fans will receive directions from their doorstep directly to their assigned parking lot, each of which has its own address.
The Braves also shared updates on their partnership with Uber. The ridesharing giant has experienced consistent, strong growth in Metro Atlanta, and this partnership will offer an alternative for fans traveling to the game. SunTrust Park will feature a designated drop-off/pick-up zone on Windy Ridge Parkway, adjacent to the ballpark, enabling fans to safely and easily find a vehicle following the game.
From the February 2017 issue of The Bright Side, Cobb County Georgia’s Newspaper covering Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton, Powder Springs and Austell, GA.
