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Fans find traffic flows freelyBy JOUNICE L. NEALY and JEAN HELLER © St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 1998 Officials used experience with traffic flows for the NCAA South Region basketball tournament 11 days ago to manage the cars carrying more than 45,000 fans to downtown St. Petersburg for the Devil Rays' inaugural game. The traffic flow got high marks from fans who came from Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and said they had no problems finding parking. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," said Bill Bailey, 45, of St. Petersburg, who drove south on Interstate 275 and arrived at the field before 3 p.m. Frank Del Monaco, the city's parking manager who also worked on traffic flow, said the city had more advantages for baseball traffic than it did for the basketball games. Most of the baseball fans are residents or at least familiar with the area. So when officials posted electronic messages along I-275 that suggest taking 22nd, 38th and 54th avenues to the field, local fans were savvy enough to trust those tips, Del Monaco said. Tampa resident Doug Hanke, 50, and his daughter Michelle, 22, arrived about 3:30 p.m. with Clearwater resident Brenda Walter, 49. They exited I-275 at 22nd Avenue N and headed downtown on local streets. "I thought there'd be a real hassle. You hear about all the traffic jams and things," Hanke said. "But we whipped right in there." And officials say drivers are accepting their suggestions to take the same routes back to I-275. Local fans' familiarity also alleviates post-game congestion because they are less likely to latch on to the first sign that points them to the highway and cause backups. "We're really happy. People are understanding (the directions). It's working," Del Monaco said. The shuttle service worked like clockwork, Del Monaco said. Fans agreed. Wanda Negron, who works in St. Petersburg, parked downtown and took a shuttle to the game. She said it was trouble-free. "More people should use it," she said. A quick hop on the city's shuttle bus took Hanke and his baseball partners to the stadium parking lot. "This is great," Hanke said. "Free parking, a free ride ... I wonder if I'll get a free beer." And Tampa resident Billy Ford, who got a late shot at tickets to the game, said he had worse traffic problems in Hillsborough County than in St. Petersburg. "We took Dale Mabry," Ford said. "That took most of the time." There were several multivehicle accidents reported as fans left downtown after the game, but none appeared serious. Even the rush of traffic moving out of the stadium was smooth. It helped that nearly 10,000 people left at least an hour before the game ended, Del Monaco said. But the real challenge will come today, when rush-hour traffic pushes out of the city and baseball traffic starts in about 5 p.m. There will be no special accommodations, such as businesses closing early, as there were for Opening Day. "Tomorrow will be the first test," Del Monaco said.
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T. PETERSBURG -- The plan to move traffic to and from Tropicana Field Tuesday night worked a whole lot better than the baseball team everyone had come to watch.
