7 Big Events That Will Make Bay Area Traffic A Nightmare On Sunday
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Some of you are so excited to celebrate the Supreme Court marriage equality ruling that you already have the car packed up and ready to drive down to Sunday's San Francisco Pride Parade. That's a good thing. You might want to consider leaving now.
BART is expecting so much traffic that they're telling people to buy their tickets days in advance to avoid lines at the kiosks. Here are the seven events that are going to make getting through traffic on Sunday a total nightmare.
1. Pride Parade - Coming just two days after same-sex marriage became the law of the land, this Pride Parade could easily be the most festive ever, with some on social media predicting "extra gay" fun. But getting to SF Pride has never been fun. But even during a regular year, traffic downtown can be tough, and parking near Market Street is even worse. Starts at 10:30 a.m.
2. The Dead - The last Bay Area show of the Grateful Dead is also set for Sunday at Levi's Stadium. The show is later than the other big events on the list - 6 p.m. - but from what I hear, Dead Heads have been known to show up early and party for a while.
3. Save Mart 350 - This event alone is enough to make driving through the North Bay an no-no. With thousands of race fans trying to navigate a couple of lanes on 37, it's safe to say that none of the fans will be matching the speeds on the track. This year has the added attraction as Jeff Gordon's last local race as a regular driver.
4. Giants Game - Someone is going to have a great day at the pride parade and then stroll over to the 1:05 p.m. Giants-Rockies game. They key there is the stroll. Don't even think about trying to move your car downtown.
5. Summerthing - Kelly Clarkson is takes the mic at 3:30 for one of the best free events of summer (courtesy of our sister station Alice Radio).
6. Stern Grove Festival - Randy Newman will likely draw a larger than average crowd to this popular summer concert series at the south end of the Sunset District. The show starts at 2 p.m., so 19th Ave could be a mess with the two nearby shows so closely timed.
7. A's Game - Major League Baseball tries to avoid having both Big league teams in town on the same weekend. They didn't try hard enough this week. The Royals will visit the A's for a weekend series, with Sunday's 1:05 game starting the exact same minute as the cross-bay rivals.
If that's not enough for you, there's a heavy metal concert at Shoreline, a food truck festival in the Presidio and the Dine Downtown event in San Jose. Here's the link to our Traffic Page. You're going to need it.