Providence Park's new transportation plan now has 21 measures to help alleviate congestion and parkingPROVIDENCE PARK
The Timbers have "spent the past two years working with neighborhood representatives and the city to ensure that traffic congestion and parking demands around Providence Park won't be amplified on game days" following the completion of their $85M expansion project this summer, according to Jamie Goldberg of the Portland OREGONIAN. However, some neighbors "remain concerned that the 4,000 additional seats, which will bring capacity up to 25,000, will lead to increased traffic and a lack of parking after the stadium reopens in June." An "updated transportation plan" estimates that 55% of fans will "take cars to the stadium this year to look for either off-street or on-street parking." Based on that figure, the plan "estimates that there will be an additional 1,120 cars heading to Providence Park on game days, as compared to previous years." The new plan has 21 measures to "help alleviate congestion and parking demands on game days," whereas the previous plan had 12. Among the "key measures" are "providing a third additional MAX train in each direction after games" and enhancing game-day enforcement of on-street parking. Providence Park "doesn't have its own dedicated parking lot." Timbers Senior VP/Operations Ken Puckett said that fans have "consistently pointed to the ease of going to and from games in surveys," and that the club "hasn't received much blowback from the neighborhoods in the past" (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/10).
