Los Angeles officials are preparing to host the trifecta of sporting events on Friday night as fans are expected to jam the 110 Freeway to get to Dodger Stadium, L.A. Memorial Coliseum and Crypto.com arena to cheer on their teams.
“As everyone already is aware, traffic can be a formidable challenge on a typical Friday afternoon,” said Laura Rubio-Cornejo, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
Officials aren’t going as far as calling this the next carmageddon, but Rubio-Cornejo said they are expecting citywide and regional traffic to be worse than normal.
Still, this isn’t your typical Friday night for sports fanatics.
The events kick off at 2 p.m. when the Coliseum will open its gates for tailgaters ahead of a USC-Rutgers college football game.
Friday will be a historic evening for major league baseball as the Dodgers and Yankees face off in the first game of the World Series — an already sold-out 5 p.m. event.
In their second game of the season, the Lakers will play the Phoenix Suns at 7 p.m., featuring the Lakers’ father-son duo of LeBron James and Bronny James.
In anticipation of these events, Los Angeles’ Mayor Karen Bass said Thursday that she directed the city’s Emergency Operations Center to activate at a status “Level 3” to coordinate city employees on Friday and into the weekend to help manage traffic. That means having more Los Angeles Police Department officers and emergency medical responders on the streets.
LADOT will have more than 100 traffic officers at key intersections to direct traffic. During the next few days, staff at the Automated Transportation Systems and Coordination Center will have a systemwide view of traffic patterns and “can respond in real time to conditions with signal timing adjustments and reduce overall congestion,” Rubio-Cornejo said.
“But even with these preparations, people who choose to drive will likely encounter significant congestion,” she said.
To avoid the crowds on the roads and the consequential parking fees that come with it, choose other methods of transportation that include rail, buses, bikes and walking.
Take a Metro ride to the Coliseum
If you are attending the USC game, the Los Angeles Metro E Line has two stops along Exposition Boulevard that leave you right outside of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
The first stop, Expo/Vermont Stations, is about a 13-minute walk to the coliseum.
The second stop is Expo Park/USC, that leaves you even closer to the coliseum, about a 4-minute walk.
Coliseum officials recommend that riders purchase a $3.50 round-trip fare at the beginning of their trip to avoid ticket lines when the events are over.
The last trains from Expo Park depart at 11:50 p.m. heading east toward East Los Angeles and 12:10 heading west toward Santa Monica. You can catch a ride by exiting the north side of the Coliseum at Gates 19 or 23.
No matter what Metro line you decide to take to see the Lakers game, you can connect to the A Line and get off at the Pico Boulevard stop, which is a less than two minute walk across West 12th Street and onto South Figuroa Street to the arena.
Take a Metro bus ride to Dodger Stadium
For Dodgers fans attending the first game of the World Series, take the Metro bus Line 4 to the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vin Scully Avenue, the closest stop to the stadium. From the bus stop its about a 10-minute walk to the top pf the stadium’s hill.
Other ways to get to Dodger Stadium — catch the Express, bike and walk
There are three other alternative ways of getting to the Dodger game. The first is the Dodger Stadium Express, a free bus you can take from Union Station or one of four transit center locations in the South Bay.
If you catch the ride from Union Station, you can park your car at Patsaouras Bus Plaza for a $8 fee and catch the express from bus Bay 9.
The Union Station bus service runs every 10 minutes, starting three hours before the game.
You can catch the South Bay express bus service at the bus stations along the 110 Freeway, with stops on Slauson Avenue, Manchester Avenue, Harbor Freeway, Rosecrans Avenue and the Harbor Gateway Transit Center (Bay 9).
Whatever South Bay location you use, the bus runs every 30 minutes, starting three hours before game time, with the last bus leaving the Harbor Gateway Transit Center at game time.
However you catch the Express, it’ll drop you off on the stadium grounds.
If you’re looking to get some exercise ahead of chowing down on that Dodger dog, you can also walk to the stadium from Metro’s Chinatown Station, a 25- to 30-minute stroll. You can also catch the A Line that leaves you at the intersection of Alameda and College streets, a three-quarter-mile walk to the stadium.
Biking to the stadium is also a possibility because there are several bike-rack lockup locations including Lot N (reserve level) on the right side of the field, Lot B (reserve level) and Lot D (club suits/lodge level) both on the left side of the field. Another location is Lot P, on the top deck.
If you live in the Chinatown neighborhood, for example, you can traverse a bike lane from College Street to Stadium Way — and then ride or walk up the stadium’s hill. The ride can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.
The ride from Echo Park is about 11 minutes and can be done by taking Sunset Boulevard but there are some areas along the way without a protected bike lane.
Hitch a rideshare to designated drop off locations
Heading to any of these sporting events with friends is the perfect opportunity to share a ride on Uber, Lyft or another ride sharing service (and ask the driver to blast Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”).
- During major events, the designated area for rideshare drop offs at the Coliseum is located at Vermont Avenue between Exposition Boulevard and Downey Way.
- Drop off locations for the Crypto.com area are on the white zones on Chick Hearn Court between L.A. Live Way and Georgia Street. The second white zone is on Figueroa Street between 12th Street and Pico Boulevard.
- Dodger Stadium’s preferred rideshare service is Uber and they allow Uber drivers to enter any auto gate to drop their riders off. All other rideshare services must enter at Sunet Gate A and drop off at Lot 11, farther down the hill.
When will carmageddon end?
The biggest traffic headaches are likely on Friday when the three major sporting events will take place but roadway congestion isn’t likely to ease too much as other events are scheduled through the weekend.