Thousands of people will drive to Columbia this weekend ? they just may not find a place to leave their car.
On Saturday and Sunday, Columbia?s roads and parking lots will juggle patrons of the HFStival with a large-scale soccer tournament, in addition to all other Memorial Day weekend traffic.
“It?s just going to be chaos,” said Joel Broida, a resident of Lakeside condominium complex in Town Center, who has printed “no parking signs” for his driveway.
The Columbia Memorial Day soccer tournament, boasting 250 youth teams nationwide, will house most of its games in Columbia locations, such as Howard Community College.
“Every team has gotten instructions to leave early, and a list of all the activities that are going on, so they will be aware of the impact,” said Dave Nesbitt, technical director of the Travel Program for Soccer Association of Columbia-Howard County, the group sponsoring the tournament.
Merriweather is offering 27,000 tickets for each day of the HFStival, a two-day rock event ? 9,000 more than Merriweather?s normal capacity.
To compound the parking crunch, the venue?s Western parking lot, which has 500 spots, will be used for extra stages and vendors.
The venue will still have 4,000 parking spots in its main lot, and parking at nearby offices and the Mall in Columbia, which can hold up to 5,000 more cars, said Jean Parker, Merriweather general manager.
“We arevery confident that parking will not be an issue,” Parker said.
The mostly youthful patrons of the festival are more likely to carpool than Merriweather?s usual adult crowd, Parker said. She estimates that an average of 3 1/2 ticketholders will share a ride.
“Rising gas prices inherently promote carpooling, which will work in our favor, making demands for parking spaces even less ? not to mention parental dropoffs,” Parker said.
More than 90 police officers will be deployed to Columbia for traffic and other issues, said Maggie Brown, president of the Columbia Association.
“It?s going to affect the nearby neighborhoods,” said Barbara Russel, association board member, who added that Bryant Woods neighborhood will be the most vulnerable.
“People are concerned about whether they will be able to get around, and whether people are going to be coming into their neighborhoods and parking.”
