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Traffic And Security Both Tight In And Around Raymond James Stadium

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune
and RICH SHOPES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 1, 2009

Updated: 02/01/2009 06:00 pm

The traffic in and around Raymond James will be heavy before, during and after today's Super Bowl.

With a little time to go before kick off, northbound and southbound traffic is clear on Interstate 275, between Howard-Armenia and State Road 60. The Veterans Expressway also looks clear in both directions.

Once you find parking and find your way to the stadium, you'll encounter added security measures. Local and federal law enforcement will be very visible as they try to keep everyone safe at the nations biggest annual sporting event.

Drivers heading southbound on Dale Mabry from Hillsborough Avenue will encounter several businesses offering parking, from $50 to $100. The closer you get to the stadium, the more expensive the parking gets.

Several places along Columbus drive, east of the stadium, are offering parking. Spots are going for about $20 close to MacDill Avenue, then go up to $25 closer to the stadium and are $40 near Himes Avenue.

The doors to the stadium opened at 2 p.m. and the stadium is full with jerseys of black and gold and red and white. There are no bottlenecks at the gates, so far. Security officials say not everyone will get patted down.

"If they set off the metal detector," says Dan Keefe, with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, "they will be searched."The busiest gate is on the south side of the stadium where the NFL Experience is located. The interactive experience is open today only for people with game tickets and it is now disgorging people into the stadium.

"Does that pirate ship sail away?" asks Joey Valenti of Phoenix.

The Transportation Security Administration has loaned its behavior analysts for the cause. They are in plain clothes and watch people coming through the gates. If anyone acts weird, they will get searched, Keefe says.

Outside the stadium on North Dale Mabry Highway an FBI agent in a tank, with a machine gun ready on the top, kept watch over the scene. Lots of fans stopped to shoot pictures of the surreal scene made necessary by post-911 issues.

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