Anyone that knows me, knows that I am a huge sports fan. Before I became a traffic reporter, I was a sports writer. In fact, the first job that I ever had was as a sports writer when I was just 14 years old. Over my life, whether as a fan or a journalist, I’ve been to some the best sporting events on the planet. Super Bowls, World Series’, NCAA basketball championships, college football bowl games, heavy-weight boxing title fights, The Masters, NBA and NHL playoff games. You name it, I’ve been there.
Having told you all that, I’m embarrassed to admit that even though I live just over five miles from Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, I’ve never been to a Georgia Tech football game. I’m pathetic, I know. I’ve been to Athens, Auburn, Alabama, Jacksonville, Tennessee and countless other college venues, but even though Tech is literally in my backyard, I’ve never been.
Why? Honestly, I didn’t know where to park, I didn’t know where to tailgate, and I didn’t want to deal with game day traffic. I’ve driven on the Downtown Connector on a game day Saturday and the huge delays ramping off to North Avenue looked painful.
I finally realized, enough is enough, and this year I’m going to go to a Georgia Tech football game. Wanting the inside scoop, I called Wayne Hogan, associate athletic director at Tech. It was an eye opening conversation. According to Hogan, I’m not the only one worried about parking at the midtown campus.
“There’s always been the misconception that there’s no where to park,” Hogan said, “There are plenty of parking lots on campus and plenty of places to tailgate.”
One popular place to park is the Student Center lot near the old Olympic swimming facility. Hogan said near that parking lot is a large amount of green space where people tailgate.
“People would really find this is a great place to spend a Saturday,” Hogan said. “People have no idea that it’s so collegiate on campus. It’s a colorful, fun, family environment.”
On-campus parking passes can be purchased online at ramblinwreck.com, but there are also plenty of off-campus parking options. Apparently there is a tunnel that runs underneath the downtown connector that takes you to the shadow of Bobby Dodd Stadium. The tunnel is near Spring Street and Sixth Street. So you can park on the east side of I-75/85 near the Varsity and take the tunnel to campus. I thought I knew this city pretty well and I had no idea this even existed.
Another parking option is at Atlantic Station. Hogan told me that last year the school started running shuttle buses between Atlantic Station and the football field. So now, some people grab a bite to eat before the game and take the shuttle to the game. This sounds like what I’m going to do when I go to the game. I’ll take my wife shopping and eating at Atlantic Station and then take the shuttle to the game. No parking worries, no traffic worries, no problem.
I’ve lived in Atlanta for 16 years. It’s time for me to go see my neighbors at Georgia Tech.
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