JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This weekend there's a lot you need to know if you’re heading out to the Jacksonville Jaguars season opener against the Colts on Sunday.
Ongoing construction and a new traffic pattern will be awaiting tens of thousands of Jaguars fans.
This city planned to finish its construction around TIAA Bank Field before the football season started but the final phase of finishing curbs and sidewalks is just now underway, and now it’s not expected to wrap up until mid-October and will affect fans’ commutes to the first few home games.
“You can hear and see all around us the construction. And that's progress, right. That's progress for the sports complex downtown, but it has erupted in some traffic patterns,” Jacksonville Jaguars Chief Operating Officer Chad Johnson said.
The new traffic patterns are creating new routes to get into the stadium and fans are advised to get there as early as they can Sunday.
If you have parking passes, Jacksonville Jaguars Chief Operating Officer Chad Johnson says entering the complex on the same side of the stadium as your parking lot will ease some of the pain of waiting in traffic.
“If you go to jaguars.com and go to our parking page, you'll be able to pick any parking lot on the complex, and it will tell you which way to go, depending on where you're coming from but we really recommend you arrive early.,” Johnson said.
If you’re parking in the J-lot on the west side near gate one, the easiest route is to take Bay Street, keep right to merge onto Gator Bowl Blvd, take a left turn onto A. Philip Randolph Blvd and a right on Adams Street.
But if you plan on parking on the east side near lots A, C, D, E or the tailgaters parking lot, taking the Matthews Bridge via Arlington Expressway or Hart Bridge via Beach Blvd will be the most convenient.
“Some of the closures you see on Friday won't be necessarily in place for the game and will temporarily be replaced,” Johnson added.
Johnson says the busiest time to get to the stadium Sunday will be around noon. All the lots will be open and Jacksonville Sheriff Officers along with parking attendants will be throughout the area to assist with the ongoing construction and traffic flow in the area.