Super Bowl City traffic congestion woes continue in San Francisco

Amy Hollyfield Image
ByAmy Hollyfield KGO logo
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Super Bowl City traffic congestion continues in SF
Major closures have meant a challenging commute for people who live and work in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Super Bowl has the potential to rake in record cash, but until then, major closures for Super Bowl City have meant a challenging commute for people who live and work in San Francisco.

RELATED: Super Bowl 50 traffic and transit resources

It's the new Bay Area race, trying to get a parking place at the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. By 7:50 Wednesday morning, the primary lot was full, which commuters say is very unusual.

"Yesterday I completely missed the ferry because the parking lot was full and I take the ferry every day," said Ron Beaton, Corte Madera resident.

San Francisco streets are shut down around Super Bowl City in Justin Herman Plaza. People are now turning to public transportation.

PHOTOS: Super Bowl 50 preps underway around the Bay Area

"It's packed I think they're leaving people behind, which never happens. They're saying take a later ferry because the Super Bowl people are here," said Matt Cox, Tiburon.

This is day three of the tangled commute. Many ferry riders said they got here earlier today than the last two days and it still didn't always pay off.

There's an overflow lot across the street, it filled up shortly after 9:00. Transit officials added an extra ferry ride last night and again this morning to meet the demand, but they can't create more parking spaces.

"So we can accommodate many more passengers, however, we can't accommodate their cars," said Priya David, Golden Gate Bridge District.

RELATED: Super Bowl 50 Bay Area events schedule

Figuring it out is worth it; ABC7 News drove from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal to the San Francisco Ferry Building and hit some traffic because of the street closures -- the trip took 49 minutes. The ferry ride is 30 minutes. Officials say just change up when you go, or how you get to the ferry.

"Catch a ride, ride your bike, get dropped off, take one of our free shuttles," said David.

David said the free shuttles will pick up people in various spots around the North Bay and are underutilized.

Click here for full coverage of Super Bowl 50, and click here to download the ABC7/Waze app to help navigate around the Super Bowl City construction.