Metro Atlanta

First taste of Braves game day traffic is almost here. Are you ready?

Traffic negotiates closed lanes as construction continues on Windy Ridge Parkway to SunTrust Park on the bridge over I-75 on Thursday, March 23, 2017, in Atlanta.
Traffic negotiates closed lanes as construction continues on Windy Ridge Parkway to SunTrust Park on the bridge over I-75 on Thursday, March 23, 2017, in Atlanta.
By Ben Brasch
March 30, 2017

It’s game time.

The Braves are set to have their first outing, albeit an exhibition game, at SunTrust Park on Friday against the Yankees.

With it comes fresh grass, a Hank Aaron statue unveiling and appropriately themed food.

The game will also be a debut of the team’s new starting time of 7:35 p.m.

And then there’s the 20,000 season ticket holders excitedly trying to get to the new home of their favorite team on top of the bloodsport known as metro Atlanta’s Friday rush hour.

But authorities are confident the roads can handle it.

As reported in January, Cobb's transportation chief said Cobb had spent more than $69 million on roadwork near the new ballpark.

That's good because according to a May 2014 study, a sold-out Braves game with its 41,000 seats would inject about 20,000 extra vehicles into the Cumberland area's already clogged roads.

That extra 20 to 25 minutes, compared to the original starting time of 7:10 p.m., is one of the many traffic-curbing efforts touted by the team.

study by an engineering firm showed peak rush hour congestion declined 30 percent between 7 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

"We'll probably have some lessons learned from the 31," Braves President of Business Derek Schiller recently said. "We'll make the adjustments. We'll have two weeks to do so and by April 14 we will be ready to go with the most efficient plan possible."

Check here to see how those going to the games will maneuver I-75 and I-285 near the stadium.

Here’s to hoping those hundreds of million of dollars in road improvements and a later start time will help. Metro Atlanta will find out Friday.

SunTrust Park address: 1100 Circle 75 Parkway SE, Atlanta, Ga., 30330

About the Author

Ben Brasch is the reporter tasked with keeping Fulton County government accountable. The Florida native moved to Atlanta for a job with The AJC. If there's something important to you going on in Fulton, he wants to know about it. Help him better metro Atlanta by dropping a line, anonymously or otherwise.

More Stories