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Stadium Parking Is Sufficient, Study Says
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Published: March 12, 2008
ST. PETERSBURG - Hoping to address one of the critical issues surrounding their proposed downtown stadium, the Tampa Bay Rays released a study Tuesday that says nearly 14,000 parking spaces would be available for baseball games.
The transportation and parking study submitted to the city also found that 7,000 spaces would be left for downtown businesses, institutions and residents, and that traffic and parking disruptions would be minimal during the Rays' 81 home games.
A sellout crowd at the proposed 34,000-seat ballpark would require 11,950 spaces, the study said. The Rays project the new stadium would bring more than 2 million fans to downtown annually, with an average attendance of 26,000 per game, more than twice the size of an average crowd for games now played at Tropicana Field.
The Rays estimated when they announced their stadium plans in November that 12,000 parking spaces were within a 15-minute walk, or a mile, of Al Lang Field, where the proposed $450 million ballpark would be built.
But the new study says that most of the 14,000 off-street spaces would be within a "reasonable" walking distance of up to three-quarters of a mile, or 15 to 25 minutes. In slightly more distant areas, parking would be served by a shuttle service.
The study also said a downtown waterfront ballpark would not displace residents and visitors to the downtown area's numerous other attractions, including museums, the BayWalk shopping and entertainment complex, The Pier tourist attraction on Tampa Bay, and retail and dining establishments.
"It basically confirms that there is a significant amount of parking around the Al Lang site and that there would be minimal disruption on traffic and from the standpoint of impacts to other businesses or events or residents downtown," said Michael Kalt, the Rays' senior vice president of development and business affairs.
The Rays also would build an 800-space parking garage for players and staff members. About 550 of those spaces would be presold to Rays fans.
The city controls about half of the 14,000 spaces. The rest are controlled by large institutions such as the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Bayfront Medical Center, All Children's Hospital, and owners of privately owned lots and garages.
The study was conducted by Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, a Baltimore-based engineering firm that has performed similar analyses on more than 20 major event facilities, including Oriole Park at Camden Yards, in the past two decades.
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, who has raised concerns about a waterfront ballpark's traffic and parking effects on other downtown businesses and attractions, was attending a National League of Cities conference in Washington on Tuesday and could not be reached.
St. Petersburg Development Administrator Rick Mussett said the Rays' study will be reviewed by both the city and an independent consultant. The city won't comment on the report until then, he said.
The Rays have asked the city council to decide by June 5 whether to authorize a November referendum on a downtown ballpark. The issue has divided the community and has raised questions about financing and environmental issues, as well as traffic and parking concerns.
City council chairman James Bennett said he expects to see parking problems even if enough spaces are available.
"If this were to come to fruition, then we need a downtown mass transit system so people will park outside the downtown area and trolley in," he said. "There may be parking spaces, but everybody knows it's going to be a squeeze closest to the stadium."
The Rays also sent to the city preliminary design details for the 34,000-seat, open-air stadium that show a retractable fabric roof covering the entire field using a cable net and motorized trolleys that could cover the field in six to eight minutes.
News Channel 8 Reporter Rod Challenger contributed to this report. Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( erj3 ) on March 12, 2008 at 7:03 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
BULL. Imagine trying to leave after a game. Easy to spend other peoples money. Just say NO to the Rays, Devil Rays, whom ever they are today. I don't TRUST these New Yorkers for anything. Good friends of Elliot Spitzer.
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Posted by ( atrulyconcernedcitizen ) on March 12, 2008 at 8:40 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Right on erj3!!! This is such obvious crap. This is what we get when a big special interest(worth 269 million and counting) can make a windfall profit of over 200 million at taxpayer expense. These slick New Yorkers have taken us for a bunch of Florida Rubes and quite frankly the Mayor of St. Petersburg has behaved like a gullible loser.
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Posted by ( StPeteDad ) on March 14, 2008 at 6:58 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
That parking report sounds as enthusiastic as some appraisers' valuations of homes over the last few years. I wonder when the last report was issued by this consultant that made a conclusion contradictory to the desires of its client? Perhaps never?
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