Falcons game and other traffic-clogging events this weekend

As soon as the ice melts away, there will be something else to block the roads: cars, cars and more cars converging on multiple big events this weekend.

Atlanta police are warning that a couple of pro ball games, some exhibitions and street festivities are expected to draw more than 160,000 people downtown for a street-clogging weekend.

Their message: Take MARTA or carpool.

There is the NFC divisional playoff game for the Falcons against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday at the Georgia Dome at 8 p.m. There also is a Hawks game against the Houston Rockets at Philips Arena starting an hour earlier. Then there are the festivities along Auburn Avenue for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities. And don't forget the exhibitor shows at AmericasMart, the 49th Annual Atlanta Boat Show at the Georgia World Congress Center, multiple showings of "Beauty and the Beast" at the Fox Theater and several other events at the World Congress Center.

Atlanta police say they have a traffic plan for the grand convergence, but they are, nonetheless, urging people to minimize the traffic burden downtown.

"That many people in a concentrated area poses traffic flow concerns, so we certainly want to encourage people to be mindful of that," said Atlanta Police Department Zone 5 Commander Maj. Khirus Williams. People should leave home early to give themselves plenty of time, he said, adding: "be patient."

Williams also urged people to watch their belongings, to leave nothing worthwhile in cars and to be "vigilant for suspicious activity."