It’s 3pm and Jack Flaherty is set to take the mound in two hours.
Outside Dodger Stadium, the streets of Elysian Park came to a standstill.
A stretch of Stadium Way has been slowed down to crawl. Parts of the 5 and 110 Freeways aren’t much better. There was desperation in the air, as Dodgers fans blared car horns in a futile attempt to get traffic moving.
“The $800 ticket is only worth it if you can actually make it to the game,” said Miguel Hernández through the rolled-down window of the black Suburban. “We haven’t moved in five minutes.”
It marks the beginning of the 120th World Series, and combined with several other great events around the city, some of them labeling the evening a “traffic nightmare.”
Downtown, in addition to the Dodgers game, the Lakers play the Suns at the Crypto.com Area, and USC plays Rutgers at the LA Memorial Coliseum. In Inglewood, the East LA Classic high school football game kicks off at SoFi Stadium while the recently opened Kia Forum and Intuit Dome host concerts.
“It’s like trafficopolypse or something…car mania,” said one Dodger fan sporting a dyed-blue goatee. He rolls through a few puns before getting into “carmageddon,” a term that became popular after the 405 closed for construction in 2011.
Among the masses is Alex Rodriguez, who is a studio analyst for the Series. TikTok shows the Yankees legend walking up the hill to the stadium before the game.
Dodger Stadium charged $50 for parking in the previous playoffs but increased the fee to $75 for the World Series. The price may be swayed some to find another solution.
After honking his horn for five seconds straight – cries of frustration more than any mental call to action – the driver of the red pickup truck pulls a U-turn and backs onto the street of Echo Park homes.
Parking application ParkWhiz offers alternative spaces on the day leading up to the game, including some $80 places located about 30 minutes walk from the stadium. It is sold out by Friday, but options available at game time include $5 points in Chinatown and $31 points in the Broad Museum Garage downtown.
In a news conference on FridayMayor Karen Bass said LA is ready — “ready to host the World Series, ready to welcome visitors from near and far, and we’re ready to win.”
To ease traffic, the LA Department of Transportation is deploying 100 officers at various intersections, and LA Metro is also deploying as many as 300 traffic ambassadors to assist event-goers.
In addition, Metro increased the number of Dodger Stadium Express buses, which were renamed Line 34 in honor of Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela, who died Tuesday at 63. Twenty buses run from Union Station, and eight buses run from South Bay, starting service three hours before game time.
Last week, Metro offered alternative path to leave the game, advise that fans can walk a little over a mile to the A Line’s Chinatown Station. shipment criticizedwith those who call walking dangerous and potentially dangerous.
However, some fans are experimenting with strategies on the way to the game.
“It’s a climb, but it’s better than being stuck in a car in the 1st inning,” said Justin Chang, who won the ticket from his workplace. “I’ll spend my savings on beer and Dodger Dogs.”
Chang spent about 25 minutes on the Metro, and the walk to the stadium took another 30 minutes, making it about an hour’s drive from the venue in Highland Park.
Fans and cars make their way up the hill on Vin Scully Avenue to Dodger Stadium before Game 1 of the World Series.
(Nick Agro / For The Times)
Others parked in the neighborhood and walked the rest of the way, with plenty of time to watch the warm-up before the first pitch.
“I know a place in Echo Park that’s 20 minutes from the stadium, but I didn’t tell them where,” Emily Pratt said. “A good parking lot doesn’t cost a fortune.”
There was a sense of pride among those who walked the steep road up to the stadium, passing the line of cars along the way. At one point, the chant of “Gondola” broke out, as fans referred to the proposed project that would add a 1.2-mile aerial line through Chinatown as a new way to get to the game.
An hour before the game started, there were 1,616 traffic jams around LA, with most congestion around Dodger Stadium and Downtown LA, according to location technology company TomTom.
The majority of fans, however, apparently heed the warning about the traffic nightmare; most of the noise eased in the hour of the game. By 5 p.m., the streets around the stadium were deserted, and the fans were already in their seats.
“I paid a lot for this ticket,” said Ricky Garcia, leading his family through the line an hour before the start of the game. “I won’t miss a second.”
Walking out of the stadium after the game – all together – will be a different kind of nightmare.
