CoTA Access Report

[tom95134]

What I would like to see/hear are some reports on access to CoTA. Not in the sense of bashing but some honest reports on how well the process of getting to the event went. How well did the shuttle system workout?

There should be enough people still reading these forums that were there for the weekend to give all of us who watched on TV an idea of how things went. How did he overall facility meet your expectations?

Obviously, a lot of people got into and out of the area. The TV pictures showed grandstands that were essentially packed so it looked like the City of Austin had it's act together.

[budaman]

Overall, I think their transportation plan worked much better than was anticipated. There were periods where access to the lot at the Expo Center backed up, but no wholesale traffic jams. I personally didn't have to deal with any of that as I had rented an RV & kept it about a mile from the track. We based our departure time based on how traffic was flowing on Elroy Rd. and how the shuttles were flowing in & out of the drop off spots across the street. The backups never materialized, so we would leave about 30 minutes before the first activity to get to Lot F. Never took us more than 5 minutes to get to the lot.

One area they need to improve is traffic control out of the lots after the days activities. Sunday was the only day this was an issue...took us about 45 minutes to get out if the lot. Once out, it took us about 30 minutes to get back to our site because they wouldn't let us make a left at Elroy Rd. Had to take Kellum to Pearce & come in the back way. Next year with the road improvements & hopefully paving the parking lots should make it even easier.

The only fairly universal complaint were the wait times for food & merchandise in the Grand Plaza. The variety was good, just not enough booths....that too should be much improved next year.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable weekend!

[msd3075]

What I would like to see/hear are some reports on access to CoTA. Not in the sense of bashing but some honest reports on how well the process of getting to the event went. How well did the shuttle system workout?

There should be enough people still reading these forums that were there for the weekend to give all of us who watched on TV an idea of how things went. How did he overall facility meet your expectations?

Obviously, a lot of people got into and out of the area. The TV pictures showed grandstands that were essentially packed so it looked like the City of Austin had it's act together.

I was at the track all 3 days and had a parking pass in Lot F. For the most part traffic in and out of the track was quick and easy.

I drove in from Houston on Friday morning. I picked up my buddy at his house on the west side of Houston (I-10 and Beltway 8)at 6:00 am, and we were in our seats in the grandstand by 8:45. The only delay was when we were crossing Elroy Rd. to get onto CoTA Blvd. because of a traffic cop not letting our side go. We left the track around 4:30 and had no issues with traffic around the track. We did run into traffic on Hwy 71 going back into town, but that was to be expected seeing as it was in the middle of Friday afternoon rush hour.

We got to the track Saturday about halfway through FP3 and left immediately after qualifying ended. No problems or delays getting to or leaving from the track.

We got to the track on Sunday around 10:00. It looked like there had been an accident at Pearce Ln and Ross Rd (western intersection). There were several emergency vehicles and police cars as well as shattered glass all over the intersection was was begin swept up. We were delayed for maybe an extra 5 minutes. Other than that it was smooth sailing getting to the track.

Leaving the track after the race was a completely different story. Part of it was the route I took, but it was absolutely horrible. We turned left (north) out of Lot F, crossed Elroy Rd, and headed north on Kellam Rd. They had all 3 lanes of Kellam going north with the left 2 lanes turning left on Pearce to go back to 130 the right lane turning right on Pearce to head back to Hwy 71. Since we were heading back to Houston and would be taking Hwy 71 all the way to I-10, I turned right. We got maybe a mile down the road and everything came to a complete stop. We inched forward for about 30-45 minutes, and it seemed like the only reason we were moving at all was because cars in front of us in line were turning around and heading back the other way. Finally traffic started to move but at the most we got up to walking speed. There were absolutely no police out on the roads directly traffic. It took us an hour and a half to drive what would normally be a 2-3 minute drive.

As for traffic around Austin, it was not bad at all, and even though downtown was packed it wasn't anymore busy that it would be during a UT home game. The city handled the crowd just like all of us that have lived there before knew that it could.

As for the event, I do have a few complaints (some of which I'm sure they plan to address in in coming years):

- Spray down the parking lots with water to help prevent all the dust. I'm still not breathing normal after having to hike the entire length of the lot back to my car in what was comparable to a heavy dust storm. Every car was covered in a thick layer of dust, and my clothes, shoes, and everything on my were filthy each day I got home. I'm not expecting the lots to be paved, but hosing off the dirt (like is done on normal dirt roads) would greatly reduce the dust problem.
- If you are going to have members of the Armed Forces help direct traffic, DO NOT let them wear camouflaged uniforms (they mixed into the scenery), and if they insist on it and instead wear a high-visibility vest, have the vest be a color other than the thousands of traffic pylons all over the roadway. I swear I saw someone in a Corolla not paying attention almost take out a solider standing in the street simply because I'm sure he couldn't see him since he mixed into everything else.
- Either pave, sod, or somehow smooth out the areas off the walkways, but if you can't and instead again cover them with that green mesh, you need to secure it to the ground in a much better fashion that it was done. I saw a 10 year-old girl trip on the mesh and face-plant into the exposed rocks. She cut up her nose pretty bad.
- There were several times before and during the race that our grandstand (Turn 12, I was in Section 10, Row 17) rocked back and forth and felt very unsteady. During the jet fly-over (after the parachute/flag guy finally decided to get low enough to allow the planes to do the fly-by), our grandstand rocked forward and back enough that our entire area went silent and started looking around wondering what was going on. Maybe it just needs an extra support, I don't know, but it was definitely unsettling.

I know it looks like I'm going on a bit of a rant, but after spending time at the track I have to say the facilities were absolutely first-class and exceeded all of my expectations. Anyone that complained about anything leading up to the event really needs to go see it in person because once you do all the negative feelings you had will completely go away.

[hookem]

I don't know if you guys remember, but I had repeatedly asked before in the CoTA thread: What other facility had such a detailed traffic management plan? Could anyone produce an example? What other facility had a 500 bus shuttle system?

Well, we pretty much found out the answer. Obviously the level of planning for Austin was indeed above and beyond other venues. In fact, I'd say CoTA and Austin may have just set the example of the planning level required for a new venue opening. Austin showed them how it should be done.

So the list of major race venue snafus here in the states:

Texas Motor Speedway first race
Kentucky Speedway inaugural Sprint Cup

Remains as it is.

[gregglee]

We had on site parking in lot F. No problems driving near the track. Fri and Sat came in on north side. West on Pierce from 130, south on new road right into gate. Came in on 812 Sunday. three lanes eastbound, two turning at gate. Everything well marked with cones and temp signage. This was fairly early, arriving 8:00 - 830. Rush hour traffic on 71 was the biggest delay Friday. Construction on 71 north of airport also a small delay Friday.

We relaxed for an hour in the grand plaza area to let lot clear out before leaving each day. Traffic leaving near track also fine. Well marked to 130. Moved smoothly. Delays east of 130 Friday due to my bad choice of route. 71 east of I35 tied up and all lights cycling slowly due to in part (mostly?) to rush hour on 71 and cross streets. Left turns tripped every cycle. Saturday I talked to people in stands who had come from west Austin using 45 then 130 to loop around town with no delays either way. Since we were headed to Lakeway, I tried a South version. From 812, south on 130 to 45, 45 east to 35, then north on 35 back to 71, then west on 71. 71 east of 35 was fine all three days. Even the permanent Oak Hill Bottleneck was minimal.

The biggest traffic jam of the weekend that I saw was the pedestrian bridge at the track. With much of the seating on the south side, the foot traffic to reach the grand plaza merchandise sales, tower climb, etc. completely clogged it midday all three days. Alternative was to walk around south end outside main grandstand and T20-T19 which was surely faster. Fortunately we sat on north side so could skip the experience. Need at least double the capacity.

[gregglee]

Following up on couple others' comments. Agree on need for dust control. Especially if people are tailgating (the sit in the lot and picnic kind.) My plan for next year. Go way out to the far corner where the 40' wide sidewalk across the dam leads straight to the Grand Plaza entrance.

Lot F leaving could have used separate north and south bound exits. (Lot F was on the plan for either north or south entry.) Also the National Guard running E F G parking lot exits was just not as competent in Techniques of Traffic Direction as the law enforcement folks at other points. They frequently stopped long lines of lot exit traffic for just one or two cars coming past on COTA Blvd. But to be fair, they were improving by Sunday.

The National Guard who were directing traffic did have bright vests.

[budaman]

msd3075.....Is that why T12 quit doing the wave on Sunday...lol!

[gregglee]

msd3075.....Is that why T12 quit doing the wave on Sunday...lol!

It died in T15 corner grandstand before reaching T12. I can report that the Turn 15 long grandstand "rang" but seemed quite solid under the wave foot stomping.

[budaman]

The first few times it made it most of the way thru 12 except for the last 2 sections. We were in the end section of the corner stand(closest to 12) & that section maintained until 12 got fewer & fewer....was hoping it would jump across the track & have 5 pick it up, but it never did. It was a nice diversion while it lasted.
The corner 15 stand felt quite secure. I always wondered what T1 was like...it was way up there on those supports!

[msd3075]

msd3075.....Is that why T12 quit doing the wave on Sunday...lol!

It's why I quit doing the wave......