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St. Petersburg Officials Offer Parking Tips For Big Game

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By DAVE NICHOLSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 18, 2008

Officials are expecting downtown to be booming for today's 8:07 p.m. American League Championship Series game.

With more than 41,000 fans expected to see the Tampa Bay Rays play the Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field with a trip to the World Series on the line, and a free pops concert at Vinoy Park, parking will be at a premium downtown. The city offers the following tips:

Get there early to avoid the rush.

Take the free shuttle to Tropicana Field: The shuttle begins operation at 6 p.m. and service ends one hour after the end of each game.

The free baseball shuttle picks up fans at Central Avenue and Second Street S., under the Bank of America Tower's pedestrian bridge, and drops off passengers on First Avenue S. near 16th Street The city-owned garage accessible on First Ave. S., just east of Second St., is the designated shuttle parking facility and costs $5. Other parking is available in the immediate downtown area. A dedicated van will be available for fans with special needs. Additional information including a route map can be found at www.loopertrolley.com/Events and additional baseball parking information is available at www.stpete.org/baseballparking.

Park downtown by the waterfront: For the Florida Orchestra, drivers should utilize the BayWalk parking garage as the primary parking location, found on 2nd Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues North. From Interstate 275 drivers should exit at Interstate 375 and stay in the left lanes to bypass baseball traffic getting off at the Martin Luther King Jr. exit, then merge to the right lane and go south on 2nd Street to the garage.

For the Rays game, drivers should utilize the SouthCore garage. The best route to the SouthCore garage from I-275 is the Interstate 175 exit. Drivers should stay in the left lanes to bypass the baseball traffic getting off at 8th Street and 6th Street. Drivers will then take a left on 3rd Street and a right on 1st Avenue South to arrive at the SouthCore garage. Parking downtown will generally be less expensive than parking around Tropicana Field.

Utilize alternate routes: Drivers familiar with local roads may wish to avoid the interstate system. Fourth Street from the north is a good route to both downtown parking and Tropicana Field parking.

From the south, fans can utilize 16th Street and 5th Avenue South. Fans utilizing the interstate from the north may wish to exit early and utilize 54th, 38th or 22nd Avenue North and go east to 4th Street. Fans coming from the south on the interstate can exit early on 31st Street to 5th Avenue South.

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