AustinF1 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I was wondering if this was gonna blow up. Vance watched the traffic jam from Haywood's Hill the night of the fireworks. I had no idea people were stuck out there that late though. 'Parking fail': Thousands left in COTA parking lot for hours after fireworks show: http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2014/07/05/thousands-faced-traffic-nightmare-at-cota/12255937/ Check out the tweets after the article. AUSTIN -- Fourth of July revelers at the Circuit of the Americas faced a traffic nightmare after Friday night's fireworks show. Thousands of people showed up to the track in Southeast Austin to hear the Austin Symphony and enjoy the fireworks display. While parking was free, thousands found themselves stuck on the way out for hours. An accident near Texas State Highway 130 made the backup even worse. The Austin Police Department had to shut down the road and divert traffic in a different direction. The show is typically held at Auditorium Shores but moved to COTA this year due to renovations. We took to Twitter to see what you had to say about the traffic conundrum: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinF1 Posted July 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Check out the comments from their facebook page. They probably took most down by now. When I and another guy corrected them/Dial for saying that Simona would be the first ever full time female F1 driver, they took those comments down pretty quick. Tools. They rarely make a press release without at least one error, usually related to racing. Vance Facundo I watched the Fireworks show from Camping on Haywood's Hill and skipped the traffic mess. I was home in 5 minutes. Haywood's Hill dot com. Like · Reply · 7 hours ago · Edited Circuit of The Americas Hey everyone, we are so sorry to hear that some of you had trouble exiting after the event last night. Thanks so much for the feedback. Your comments help us make improvements for the future. Like · Reply · 3 · Yesterday at 11:07am Erica Hutton I wouldn't have brought my 3 month old to this event if I knew there would be no traffic control. 2 hrs, haven't moved an inch. (Fireworks and symphony were great... But not worth this) Like · Reply · 10 · Yesterday at 12:05am · Edited Tim Zeimann There's an APD unit wandering around through the parking lot. How about some traffic handling? Going on two hours and still have barely moved. Like · Reply · 8 · July 4 at 11:44pm · Edited Adam Orendain Worst traffic management and vendor organization I've ever experienced. 1 hour wait for food only to have them run out. I feel conflicted about venting because the event was free but take it as a voice of possible improvement. Adam Orendain's photo. Like · Reply · 8 · July 4 at 11:17pm Carla Gandara-Reynolds Horrible!!! Parking/event staff should all be fired...been in parking lot over 2 hours and barely out. Stupid!!! Like · Reply · 7 · Yesterday at 12:09am Tim Zeimann Worst event planning ever, no traffic control to get out of here whatsoever. Sitting in one spot without moving for over an hour. #epicfail #trafficnigtmare Like · Reply · 7 · July 4 at 11:00pm Robert Friedrich Terrible planning, or perhaps there was none?! 2 hours to exit an event; there are no words for it. NEVER AGAIN. Like · Reply · 6 · Yesterday at 12:56am Danny Snyder Why isn't TCSO running the traffic control for this event? Austin Police Dept obviously has no idea what they're doing. Like · Reply · 6 · July 4 at 11:06pm Christel Coleman As usual Austin, no one thought about the logistics of moving traffic for an event this size Like · Reply · 6 · July 4 at 10:55pm Steve Williams Performance was great and so were the fireworks. Traffic management on the way out was the worst of any event I've been to here. We've been sitting in Lot A for at least 30 minutes Like · Reply · 6 · July 4 at 10:38pm Jill Honken Sitting in a line of traffic not moving for a hour! Where's the cops or event staff to direct traffic?!? Like · Reply · 5 · July 4 at 10:58pm Steve Williams Amy - I have been there for events with almost 10x the number of people and the longest it took to get out was 30 minutes. Like · Reply · 2 · Yesterday at 2:15am Lucina Martinez All I have to say is never again..im happy we left Lot F before the fireworks started, parked a ways down in a empty lot on COTA to enjoy the fireworks& then we zoomed out. Only to find Elroy Rd was filled to the T up&down with parked cars off 2 the side to watch the show. I see why, & started to realize with all them leaving+the Parking lots at COTA. I knew traffic was going 2 be a disaster. How did they possibly plan this event&truly think they would fit the Audotorium Shores crowd here? Yes it was free, definitely not worth it. Extremely Overwhelming& we were only in the gates 4 an hr. Like · Reply · 2 · Yesterday at 1:42am · Edited Amy Regner Cloudt So how about a thank you to HeB, and Austin symphony orchestra for putting on an FREE event. Even if it cost us sitting in traffic for an hour or two Like · Reply · 2 · Yesterday at 1:38am Katalina Pierce I like your angle but HEB and Austin Symphony have to pay COTA A TON OF $$$ to have the event out there. COTA needs to fork over some kind of traffic control and they don't Like · Yesterday at 2:17am · Edited Larry Baltierra What if there was a fire a shooting do you believe all those people would stay calm with a hand full of cops and no escape plan . It's a perfect situation for a terrorist attack Like · Yesterday at 7:38am View more replies Vance Facundo Amy Regner Cloudt So it's 1:30 and we just got home. Everyone complaining about traffic management, just stop. Did you see all the people there??? There's only 1 road in and out. Clearly you all should have known how horrendous that was going to be. We waited about two hours in the parking lot, then it just took a few mins to get out. Yes, the traffic was horrible. Yes, the lines were so long, but there were a TON Of people there!!! Just calm down, relax, and don't go back.... I don't know what you guys expected with a crowd that big. Like · Reply · 2 · Yesterday at 1:34am William Brown The sad thing is that it only took 1-1.5 hours longer to get out at the F1 race with 100k+ people. very poor management of the lanes of direction leaving the parking lots. The fact that it was down to one lane turning right onto 812 didn't help either... Like · Yesterday at 10:10am Katalina Pierce I think what people expected was for the exiting to run smoothly as it does for concerts and races. They have 100k+ people for those events and I've never heard of traffic exiting being that bad for those events. But maybe because it was a FREE event, they didn't have the budget to pay anyone to direct traffic the way they do for other events(?) I fully expected it to be at least an hour but not 2-3 hours of sitting and not moving at all. Like · 1 · Yesterday at 10:19am View more replies Vance Facundo Celestte Vazques What a disaster. Never again!!!!!!!! Like · Reply · 2 · Yesterday at 12:30am Jennifer Kelly Traffic leaving COTA was bad, but no worse than leaving downtown. We sat in a parking garage for 2hours last July 4. Like · Reply · 1 · 16 hours ago Jeremy N Sweredoski The difference is there's mass transportation and multiple streets. It's the fault of the garage if it took 2 hours to get out. We had no problems at all when we parked DT. Like · 11 hours ago Vance Facundo Tim Peck No 30 minute venue should have a 4 hour ride home afterwards. (Especially when you're only 30 minutes away) Like · Reply · 1 · Yesterday at 10:10am Steve Williams As for the accident on 130. Saw it. Looked like a single vehicle accident but had no less that 15 police cars and emergency vehicles. If the incident was that bad, and they knew there was tons of traffic, how about dispatching appropriate resources to deal with the traffic. Terrible response by police and still to COTA - You dropped the ball. You just alienated a large number of prospective venue patrons. Like · Reply · 1 · Yesterday at 2:19am Mike Jankowski To all who complained about traffic, obviously you weren't aware of the accident at the entrance and the the one near 130. Though minor, those threw a huge wrench in the works. Still, traffic was going to be difficult, and it was about an hour after the show that we could leave Lot C. Like · Reply · 1 · Yesterday at 1:56am Mike Jankowski One thing is no one wants to pay to expand the roads for traffic. I agree, things need to be improved. Like · 2 · Yesterday at 2:17am Daniel Pierce COTA should have been forced to make the roads better -- they build something where 1000s of people are heading and they have two-land access roads... Not the city. Not the county. The COTA people charge plenty of money -- let them make the roads better. Like · Yesterday at 9:48am View more replies Vance Facundo Mike Dayum Robison To all the complainers.……I hear Dallas is wayyy better than Austin. Do you need help packing? Like · Reply · about an hour ago Jennifer Kelly We went early to check out all of those family friendly activities. I have to say I was pretty disappointed. I expected more. Like · Reply · 16 hours ago Annie Nøiers Teles That was just awful...as visitors to Austin we were mislead onto dark roads in the middle of the sticks after waiting for almost 3 hours to get out...the display was nice but not worth the effort at all. Like · Reply · 20 hours ago Mike Owen 1st and last time for me. Fail. Like · Reply · Yesterday at 2:33pm Lee Black It was discouraging to finally get to move out of the parking lot only to watch 3 parking attendants sitting on the curb doing nothing. Where were all those guys that helped us get parked in the first place. Police had a great set up at the west exit. Like · Reply · Yesterday at 12:34pm Angie Irish Hernandez Sad to say our first experience was a crap experience. My son has been out there many times and was shocked we took so long to just get out of the parking lot! POOR planning for this event obviously! Like · Reply · Yesterday at 11:48am Tatiana Christina Montano It was a wonderful event, I had a ton of fun. The traffic management could have been a lot better, but hey, learn from mistakes and try to improve for next year's event. My friends and I passed the time with conversation and looking up videos on youtube when we were stuck in traffic, so it wasn't too horrible Like · Reply · Yesterday at 10:58am Tatiana Christina Montano P.S. Sorry again to the guy who's beer I knocked over on my way out. It was dark and I didn't see you. My bad bruh. Like · 1 · Yesterday at 11:06am Vance Facundo Beautifulmind Bm Ok, some one in administration needs to take NOTES down to spend a bit on taking out the bottle necks from the whole route if you are expecting so much cash flow from race events . Even without accidents, how can you imagine 6 lane traffic coming out from COTA can merge on single lane roads outside???? Maybe thats why when we kept wondering stuck in traffic for 3 hrs where cops are, we saw only one cop managing traffic on the bottle neck junction only. Why would they have deployed any traffic management authority inside? Eilroy ln and Pierce lanes NEED expansion PLEASE!!!! Like · Reply · Yesterday at 10:52am Laura Cartwright This is something I will NEVER do again. We sensed the huge outpouring of people coming so left 30 minutes early and watched fireworks from our car. despite being ready and leaving early took 3hours to exit into heavy traffic. Car behind us even nudged us in the bumper. "excuse me sir but where do you want us to go"? Insane and rude Like · Reply · Yesterday at 10:51am Sarah Mancha I appreciate that it was a free event,and counted on it taking at least an hour to make my way home- but to sit, in my parking space, for 2.5 hours before even turning my car on to sit in another line, was ridiculous. No one had a clue as to what they were doing, and I will never attend this venue again. Like · Reply · Yesterday at 10:49am Dale Stephens NO TRAFFIC CONTROL inside COTA~! THREE hours to get back to Austin. Not worth the Free Fireworks and Symphony~! Like · Reply · Yesterday at 8:56am Katalina Pierce Daniel Pierce Like · Reply · Yesterday at 2:10am Katalina Pierce 2 hours to exit. You called it ! Like · 2 · Yesterday at 2:11am Vance Facundo Amy Regner Cloudt Oh yeah, by the way, it was a FREE event Like · Reply · Yesterday at 1:36am Larry Baltierra Still a great venue for concerts and races Like · Reply · 1 · Yesterday at 8:28am Elvira A. George What time to the fireworks go off? Like · Reply · July 4 at 7:10pm Circuit of The Americas 9:30! Like · July 4 at 8:26pm Elvira A. George Thank you Like · July 4 at 8:27pm Vance Facundo Circuit of The Americas Forecast is that storms are staying north and south of the track. All clear! Like · Reply · July 4 at 6:54pm Josh Thompson Why has it taken us over an hr and a half to move 30 ft?!!!!! Unacceptable COTA! This is not the way a world class track is supposed to operate Like · Reply · 2 · July 4 at 11:11pm Patricia Coursey Ortiz I'll never go to COTA again if this is how traffic is managed. Just absolutely ridiculous. The fireworks show was a disgrace. We got there at 3:30 to get a good spot and waited anxiously to see an amazing show? What?! That was it?! I'm so disappointed. I'll never do that again. Not I mention waiting in the parking lot for 2 hours just to move one car length!! Absolutely disgraceful. Sooooo very upset about this still. Like · Reply · 1 · Yesterday at 10:46am Chris Dean This is the worst venue I've ever been to! 2 hours and I'm still sitting in the parking lot! Like · Reply · 1 · July 4 at 11:54pm Jill Honken What's the pro tips to exiting?!? I think we could use that right now! Over a hour and half without moving! Like · Reply · 1 · July 4 at 11:33pm Brent Holm No rain and plenty of room Like · Reply · 1 · July 4 at 7:03pm Janet Kilgo Is it packed? Like · Reply · 1 · July 4 at 3:53pm Daniel Pierce Nice pro tip! You needed some tips for exiting. Whoever was in charge of logistics should be immediately fired. Or was anyone even in charge of assisting people with getting out? Like · Reply · Yesterday at 9:54am JoeJohn Watson The traffic was well managed getting in. They used the lanes hurricane evacuation style and APD did a great job with traffic. Getting out was ridiculous! We got out after a while but my sister and brother were there til 1:30 am trying to get out!!! It took them more than 3 1/2 hours to get out!!! Like · Reply · Yesterday at 9:21am Dale Stephens Yes, but took 3 hours to get back to downtown Austin after the Fireworks.. Like · Reply · Yesterday at 8:54am Jason Lynn Horrible horrible traffic getting in and especially out. We had to watch from the parking lot and still took 40 minutes to get out of there. Please get back to auditorium shores next year Like · Reply · Yesterday at 12:23am Katalina Pierce I sure hope they do. Like · 1 · Yesterday at 2:18am Vance Facundo Steve Noynaert Took me 40 min to go from lot T (which was empty btw, with best view of the fireworks) to SH130. Seems that the main issue was people walking on on 812 and blocking/slowing down traffic. For F1 the longest I sat in traffic was 10 min. Of course today everyone left at the exact same time. Hard to fit that many cars on a two lane road. Like · Reply · July 4 at 11:45pm David Aldridge 50 minutes sitting in traffic trying to get out if here, and haven't moved a single inch. Is F1 entry/exit this horrible? Like · Reply · July 4 at 11:07pm Danny Snyder Too bad traffic is such a mess leaving. Why isn't TCSO running the traffic? Like · Reply · July 4 at 10:52pm Patricia Ochoa Herbst It's raining! Is it muddy? Like · Reply · July 4 at 5:44pm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 LOL.....I have no words..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinF1 Posted July 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Vance did get some nice shots of the fireworks from Haywood's Hill though... https://www.facebook.com/vance.facundo/media_set?set=a.800005550034262.1073741848.100000744737116&type=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinF1 Posted July 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 COTA traffic woes continue: http://www.austin360.com/weblogs/austin-music-source/2014/jul/13/review-kiss-def-leppard-austin360-amphitheater/ Also wasn't expecting "Detroit Rock City" but they did that, too, perhaps because it was Saturday night and I was feeling uptight because of nightmarish parking misguidance and misdirection by Circuit of the Americas staff that had us driving around the racetrack for longer than the band was onstage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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