Sports, parades and Fleet Week: San Francisco is in for a busy weekend -- and lots of traffic
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday could be the busiest few days San Francisco seen since the start of the pandemic.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday could be the busiest few days San Francisco seen since the start of the pandemic.
The Giants open up the NL Division Series Friday night against the Dodgers, and that happens as Fleet Week really gets going. Add a Warriors game and a parade and you have some major traffic and parking concerns.
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As bad as the Thursday afternoon traffic looked near Oracle Park, it's likely not nearly as bad as it will look Friday evening, when the Giants open up the NLDS against the rival Dodgers.
"I have heard that there's gonna be a lot of traffic," said Riley Taylor of San Francisco.
That's because Friday and Saturday's baseball playoff games are just a small portion of what's happening. The Warriors take on the Lakers at Chase Center Friday Night, there's an Italian Heritage Parade Sunday in the Wharf and North Beach, and the Fleet Week Air Show will take to the sky Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. That show goes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the Blue Angels usually starting around 3:15 p.m.
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"We anticipate extra congestion, a lot of extra traffic in San Francisco," says Erica Kato of the SFMTA. Kato says there will be extra street cars along the famous F-Line getting out-of-towners from BART to the wharf as quickly as possible.
"We will be running trains Friday and Saturday well into the midnight hour; and we're going to have very tight headways, for the most part 15 minute headways," says Chris Filippi of BART.
Good news for baseball fans but come Sunday, when the final fleet show takes place, wait time will be extended to 30 minutes, with track slow downs between Walnut Creek and Pleasant hill due to maintenance. BART says three extra event trains will be ready at a moments notice.
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"It really is a good experience right now and I think people will be pleasantly surprised if they give us a chance," says Filippi.
Already, the cheapest parking near Oracle Park is four blocks away and going for $120. It's 40-45 dollars if you're willing to walk a mile. This is likely due to construction taking place in Mission Bay, a location that was once all Giants parking.
"I will walk and take public transportation," says Taylor.
That thought was echoed by many we talked with Thursday near the Fleet Week tents that are already up.
"I can not imagine driving into San Francisco this weekend and fighting that battle for parking," says Filippi who is urging folks to give BART a chance.
