Braves Adds Parking, Shuttles And Apps To Relieve Congestion
The Atlanta Braves said Wednesday they’ve got nearly all of the bases covered when it comes to dealing with traffic for opening day at SunTrust Park.
The team is adding parking, providing free shuttles and launching mobile apps to help fans get to and from the stadium and surrounding retail area known as The Battery Atlanta.
The Braves said the two mobile apps for the stadium and The Battery Atlanta will be connected to the WAZE navigation app.
“Provided you’ve purchased parking in advance or it’s coupled with your season ticket and you’ve got a reserved space all year long, geomapping will take you specifically via WAZE to that specific lot,” said Derek Schiller, Braves president of business.
Schiller said there will be 11,000 parking spots around the ballpark and Uber will have an exclusive drop-off lot in front of the stadium.
Atlanta Braves Chairman Terry McGuirk said he personally hasn’t heard a lot of complaints about traffic.
“Most of the difficulty is in the past,” McGuirk said. “In the last two years, all of The Battery and the ballpark were all built. So we’re virtually complete on the construction.”
Cobb County Commissioner Bob Ott said the county’s advisory committee on the new stadium is waiting for more information on the traffic plan, due out before opening day, March 31.
“As the road projects come online and things like that, we have to kind of see exactly what actually happens and how things are going to impact the various traffic flows,” Ott said.
Most major construction is expected to be complete by opening day, but retail and housing will take longer.
The Braves announced it’s looking for more private parking operators to apply for permits through the city of Smyrna.
Free shuttles will be provided for parking lots on the edge of SunTrust Park and the Braves will provide private shuttles from metro Atlanta locations yet to be announced.