DODGER PARKING BLUES STADIUM ABOUT TO FACE FIRST BIG WEEKEND.Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. and SUE DOYLE Staff Writers It's 5 p.m. -- a little more than two hours until game time Wednesday -- and the gates of Dodger Stadium • • [ are set to open in 10 minutes. Christian Mendoza Christian Mendoza (born 1987 in the Philippines, now living in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a singer who rose to popularity as the winner of Idols Denmark, the Danish version of Pop Idol. Christian won with 57% of the total vote against Mirza Radonjica. finds his position halfway up the hill of the Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. Gate and digs in. His job directing traffic at Dodger Stadium has always been stressful, but Monday's home opener was a nightmare created by a new parking system. More trouble is expected this weekend when huge crowds return to Chavez Ravine. "I'm really earning my money this year," Mendoza joked. When the gates open, he directs season-ticket holders to preferred parking and everyone else to the general lot. He becomes the conductor of a discordant traffic symphony with horns blaring, fans yelling obscenities, cars weaving and darting across four lanes of traffic. "Compared to Opening Day, this is a breeze," Mendoza said before Wednesday night's game against the Colorado Rockies For the National Hockey League team (1976 – 1982), now known as the New Jersey Devils, see . The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. They are in the West Division of the National League. ; a typical weeknight week·night n. A night of the week exclusive of Saturday and Sunday. week  nights crowd of 35,852 showed up.
Things were chaotic for a while, but by 7:20 p.m., 10 minutes after game time, Mendoza and his team of parking conductors had successfully sorted all the cars entering the Sunset gate -- Dodger Stadium's busiest -- and the flow of traffic had slowed to a trickle. But this weekend's games against San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. are expected to again test the new zoned parking system at the stadium. Monday's sellout game drew 56,000 fans, and the Padres series tonight, Saturday and Sunday is expected to approach that turnout. "It just depends on how many people show up," Mendoza said. Fans waited up to 90 minutes to enter and exit the park Monday, creating a ripple effect ripple effect Epidemiology See Signal event. that spilled out onto surface streets and freeways around the park. Team officials say that mess isn't a fair way to evaluate the new system. In time, they say, fans will adjust to the new system and it will prove better than before. "We worked with the foremost experts on parking in the city and directed parking works," said Camille Johnston, the Dodgers' senior vice president of communications. About 4,000 more cars than usual show up at season openers, and the problem Monday was made worse by the game's 4:30 p.m. ending, pushing thousands of vehicles onto L.A. streets and freeways during rush hour, she said. On a more typical night, Johnston said, the new system will help fans find a spot more quickly by eliminating the need to circle the stadium, and it will help them exit more quickly as they are directed to the same gate they entered. The Dodgers changed things up this year in response to fan complaints, Johnston said. "The parking situation at Dodger Stadium hadn't changed in 45 years, and we all know the traffic situation in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. has." During the offseason, the team hired transportation consultants to study the problem and recommend a solution. No matter what the consultants came up with, transportation experts say, some people would be unhappy. "People don't like change. They resent it," said James E. Moore, director of the transportation and engineering program at the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission . "(But) when carefully executed, changes in parking lot configurations can be made." The former parking system was a free-for-all, sometimes looking like a demolition derby after games. Fans took their own shortcuts See Win Shortcuts. to and from the park, often circling the roads around the stadium. Under the new system, fans are directed to lots closest to the gate through which they entered, and they must exit from the same gate. Driving around the stadium is no longer allowed. In addition, general parking permits are $15, up from $10 last year. Holders of preferred-parking permits have two more lots to park in now. "We have 26,000 season-ticket holders. That's a significant portion of the fan base," Johnston said. "We do what we can to cater to people who want to pay more for a higher level of service. But we also have 10,000 seats that are under $10." The Dodgers and city officials are still looking at ways to improve the situation. A shuttle that ran from Union Station to the stadium in 2002-03 was halted because of low ridership. A plan by county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San to start a public-private partnership on a shuttle has stalled due to lack of a partner. "We're still working on creative solutions to the problem," said Michael Cano, Antonovich's transportation deputy. "Hopefully, if there's still frustration at the parking situation, that will provide the impetus to get this done." Tim Campbell and his parents didn't want to bother with the new system when they attended Wednesday night's game. They parked instead on a nearby side street and walked the half-mile to the stadium. "We're from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ," Campbell said. "There, people don't bother with driving to the stadium and parking when they could just take the subway." ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): 2 photos, map Photo: (1 -- color) Drivers make their way into Dodger Stadium at the Sunset Boulevard entrance Wednesday for the game against the Rockies. (2 -- color) Drivers leave Dodger Stadium after Wednesday's game. Experts say fans will get used to new parking constraints. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer Map: New Parking Procedures Source: Los Angeles Dodgers "Dodgers" and "Brooklyn Dodgers" redirect here. For the American football team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (football). For the Eastern Basketball Association team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (basketball). Warren Huskey/Staff Artist |
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