Wrigley Gameday Traffic Management Plan

7/28/2019 Wrigley Gameday Traffic Management Plan

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Wrigley Field Gameday OperationsTraffic Management Plan

Prepared for the Chicago Cubs

July 15, 2013


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Wrigley Field Gameday Traffic and Parking Management Plan

1.Executive SummaryThe unique, urban location of Wrigley Field offers numerous benefits to the residents and businesses of

Lakeview. Located in the heart of the thriving North Side neighborhood, the Friendly Confines provides

many advantages by bringing potential customers to area businesses and highlighting the neighborhood to

a worldwide audience, many of whom come to visit to tour the ballpark even on non-game days. The

presence of Wrigley Field is highlighted by real estate professionals who have named the community

Wrigleyville to honor the home of the Cubs and to help give the area a unique identity which hasbecome synonymous with one of the most attractive places to live in all Chicago. Wrigley Field offers a

world class venue to residents who enjoy baseball, music and other events.

Wrigley Field is also unique among major league stadiums and arenas with respect to transportation.

Almost every other professional sports ballpark and venue in the United States is situated amid an

abundance of parking and in close proximity to interstate highways; Wrigley Field is neither. Both the

Cubs and the neighborhood have thrived over the years by managing traffic and parking congestion. Oneof the reasons for this is the many fans who choose not to drive to Wrigley Field because of their

knowledge of the relative absence of parking around the ballpark. By adopting the recommendations in

this report, traffic management can be enhanced and the ballpark and currently-proposed development can

thrive without additional adverse traffic impact on the community.

This traffic and management plan was conducted by Sam Schwartz Engineering (SSE) for the Chicago

Cubs. The study was compiled with input from the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), the

Office of Emergency Management and Communication (OEMC), the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA),

Pace and neighborhood expertise, including Chester Kropidlowski who has decades of experience in

Wrigley Field traffic operations. We thank all those who helped for their input.

The Cubs can reduce the impact on the neighborhoods traffic and parking system in two ways: (1) by

reducing the number of fans who drive and park at the game; and, (2) by reducing the amount of time fans

who are driving remain in the neighborhood.

This plan addresses the existing gameday traffic and parking operations at Wrigley Field, as well as new

strategies to encourage more ticket holders to use the existing Remote Parking facility and take transit.

The Cubs have committed to reviewing this plan with CDOT on an annual basis.

The following are the primary conclusions of the traffic management plan:


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The Cubs can increase the manner in which they encourage fans to take transit to games insteadof driving. For those fans who do drive, Cubs can offer parking solutions online and at the time of

ticket purchase to reduce the amount of driving through the neighborhood looking for parking.

There will always be traffic congestion around Wrigley Field during Cubs games. Understanding the

issues is important and helps to isolate which hours and traffic patterns pose the greatest challenge.

Implementing the suggestions in this study offers an approach to help move traffic and people out of the

neighborhood more quickly.


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2.IntroductionWrigley Field is unique in comparison to other sporting venues both around the country and in Chicago in

part because of its urban setting and context. Wrigley Field is nestled tightly into a single block in a

neighborhood of residences and small businesses. Unlike the United Center or U.S. Cellular Field, both of

which are surrounded by vast tracts of parking (often provided to the team with public assistance),

Wrigley Field incorporates parking provided officially by the Cubs with public street parking, neighbors

who sell their garage space to fans as a means of earning income and other surface parking also used bybars, restaurants, and rooftop businesses. The Cubs own or operate approximately 1205 parking spaces in

the blocks immediately adjacent to the ballpark for season ticket holders, staff and the press, including

200 spaces leased from the Chicago Park District in a lot at Challenger Park approximately half a mile

north of the ballpark and other spaces leased from private operators such as the Vic Parking lot at

Belmont and Sheffield. A description of the parking supply owned and operated by the Cubs is included

in Page 13. To further reduce the physical footprint related to the ballpark and accommodate for the

crowds it draws, the Cubs make available to fans remote parking spaces using existing lots on the DeVryUniversity campus, approximately two miles west of the ballpark. Overall, there are an estimated 5,300

off-street parking spaces available in the community to Cubs fans. It is estimated sold-out games generate

anywhere between 4,500 to 5,300 vehicles1, mainly from the north and northwest suburbs. Concerts and

other special events typically generate less.


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3.Existing ConditionsThe traffic and parking conditions at Wrigley Field are unlike those at US Cellular Field, the United

Center or any other ballpark in Major League Baseball. Though it lacks an abundance of parking lots or

access to an interstate highway, Wrigley Field is well-situated with respect to the CTA Red Line and is

located in one of the densest neighborhoods in Chicago, allowing people to walk and bike to the venue.

The neighborhood has thrived for years with this volume of traffic and a significant amount of

development has occurred over the last decade.

The most stressful time for traffic congestion in the community is the weekday evening rush hour. This

recognition leads to a number of conclusions, supported by the data on the pages which follow:

a. Arrival times for daytime events do not pose a significant traffic problem in the community.Because fans do not arrive during rush hour and most residents are at work, fans are able to

access the ballpark and the community without posing significant traffic management issues.

b. Exiting from nighttime events does not pose a significant traffic problem in the community.Because fans leave well into the evening when most residents are home and not driving, fans

are able to depart the community without posing significant traffic management issues.

c. Weekend events, whether daytime or nighttime, do not pose a significant traffic problem inthe community. Fans are able to arrive and depart the community without posing significant

traffic management issues. Weekend events should not impact theaters or other businesses in

the neighborhood, each of which is assumed to have its own traffic and parking management

solution.

The primary issue for traffic management related to Wrigley Field events, therefore, is when those events

coincide with weekday evening rush hour traffic. This section of the report provides an overview of

existing transportation conditions around Wrigley Field, analysis and observations of the existing

transportation conditions and recommendations to improve the existing situation.

Transit

Wrigley Field is very well served by the regions transit system which is why so many people use public

transportation to get to Cubs games. The most recent prior survey on Cubs fans travel patterns to Wrigley

Field was conducted in 2001 by Siim Soot and estimated approximately 31% of fans used CTA Rail to


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The CTA Red Line, which runs between Howard Avenue and 95 th Street, has a station at Addison

Street and is well-used by both residents and fans accessing Wrigley Field. In 2012, more than

3,000,000 people entered the Addison Red Line Station, making it one of the busiest in the City.

Before weekday night games, southbound Purple Line Express trains stop at the Sheridan station,

which is north of Wrigley Field. After games, CTA provides additional staff in the Addison Station to

assist with ticketing and platform loading.

CTA Buses

There are two bus routes, Route 22 (Clark) and Route 152 (Addison), which run adjacent to WrigleyField. A number of additional bus routes are within mile of Wrigley Field. A map of all the CTA

buses is shown in Figure 1.

Pace Express

To provide direct connections between the suburbs and Wrigley Field, Pace provides two Wrigley

Field Express Routes: Route 282, which runs between the Northwest Transportation Center in

Schaumburg and Wrigley Field, and Route 779, which runs between Yorktown Shopping Center in

Lombard and Wrigley Field. Fans are able to park for free at these locations and it costs $4 to ride the

service in each direction. Paces website provides an excellent instructional video on how to use the

service. Exhibit 1 shows the ridership on each route over the last five years and the annual

attendance.

Exhibit 1

Pace Express Ridership Last Five Years

YearRoute 282

(Schaumburg)

Route 779

(Lombard)Total

Annual

Attendance

Ridership

per 10,000

fans

2012 22,711 11,491 34,202 2,882,756 118.64

2011 25,797 14,662 40,459 3,017,966 134.06

2010 25,797 14,661 40,458 3,062,973 132.09

2009 25,741 13,052 38,793 3,168,859 122.42

2008 - - 45,516 3,330,200 136.68

The Cubs service is the most popular sports service Pace runs and the fares cover approximately 50%

of the operating costs of the service. Paces Six Flags service is the only service which covers a

higher percent of operating costs.


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Counties and the closest stop to Wrigley Field is Clybourn, located at 1900 N Ashland Avenue,

approximately 3.6 miles south of Wrigley Field.

One challenge of getting fans to take Metra to the game is Metra runs on a fixed schedule and Cubs

games do not. This can force a fan into the decision to leave a game early to catch a train or watch the

entire game and possibly have to wait at the train station for more than an hour. Exhibit 2 shows the

Metra schedule for each of the existing start/end times for Cubs games.

The Cubs experimented with a shuttle between the UP-N station and Wrigley Field, but disbanded theservice due to low ridership.


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Exhibit 2

Metra Schedules

Gameday and Start Time Metra Line ArrivalDepartur

e

Weekday Day Game, 1:10 PM Start Time, 4:10 Estimated End

Time

UP-N (Ravenswood)

11:10

AM3:33 PM

1:10 PM 3:45 PM

4:48 PM

5:15 PM

5:27 PM

5:34 PM5:49 PM

UP-NW (Clybourn)

11:12

AM3:33 PM

12:12 PM 4:13 PM

1:22 PM 4:48 PM

4:54 PM

4:57 PM

5:06 PM

5:15 PM

5:29 PM5:32 PM

5:41 PM

5:56 PM

Weekday Night Game, 7:05PM Start Time, 10:05 Estimated End

Time

UP-N (Ravenswood)

5:15 PM 8:48 PM

5:53 PM 9:48 PM

6:12 PM 10:48 PM

6:29 PM 11:48 PM

7:19 PM

UP-NW (Clybourn)

5:27 PM 8:38 PM

6:12 PM 9:38 PM

6:46 PM 10:39 PM

7:12 PM 11:38 PM

Saturday Afternoon Game, 1:10 PM Start Time, 4:10 Estimated

End Time

UP-N (Ravenswood)

11:10

AM3:47 PM

1:10 PM 4:48 PM

5:49 PM

5:58 PM

UP-NW (Clybourn)

11:12 PM 3:38 PM

12:12 PM 4:38 PM

1:12 PM 5:38 PM

Sunday Afternoon Game, 1:10 PM Start Time, 4:10 Estimated

End Time

UP-N (Ravenswood)12:10 PM 4:43 PM

1:10 PM 5:43 PM

UP-NW (Clybourn) 12:12 PM 4:30 PM


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Remote Parking

The Cubs operate a Remote Parking facility at DeVry University near Addison Street and Rockwell

Avenue (west of Western Avenue) for all weekend and night games. The cost to use this service is

currently $6.00 and includes a round trip on the CTA 154 Route which runs direct between Wrigley

Field and DeVry University. Post-game, passengers board the bus on the east side of Clark Street,

north of Addison Street. The 154 routes start running two and a half hours before the game and runs

one hour after night games and two hours after weekend day games. The number of cars and fans who

have used the Remote Parking facility over the last five years is shown in Exhibit 3. The Cubs took

over operation of the lot from the City of Chicago in 2004 and as the information in Exhibit 3 shows,use of the lot has increased dramatically under Cubs leadership.

Exhibit 3

Number of Cars and Fans that Used Remote Parking Facility

YearCars Using Remote

Parking

Fans Using Remote

Parking

Annual

Attendance

Fans Using

Remote

Parking per

10,000

Attendance

2012 15,000 40,000 2,882,756 138.76

2011 16,997 46,109 3,017,966 152.78

2010 19,250 52,854 3,062,973 172.56

2009 20,761 54,952 3,168,859 173.41

2008 22,083 57,121 3,330,200 171.52

2004 11,421 30,745 3,170,184 96.98

2001 2,963 7,661 2,780,465 27.55

Remote parking increases at a higher rate as attendance gets higher, since the price of parking around

the stadium increases during these times as well. If parking is cheap because of low attendance, it

reduces the incentive to use the remote lot.

Bicycling

To encourage fans to bicycle to Wrigley Field, the Cubs provide a free bike valet service which

allows fans to securely store their bike during the game. It is located on the south side of Waveland

Avenue, between Clark Street and Wrigley Field. It is sponsored by SRAM and World Bicycle

Relief. The bike valet service is open two hours before the game and closes one hour after the game.

Th l f th bik l t i i h i E hibit 4


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Exhibit 4

Annual Usage of Bike Valet Service

Year BikesAnnual

Attendance

2012 5,000 2,882,756

2011 6,063 3,017,966

2010 8,568 3,062,973

2009 20,761 3,168,859

2008 10,238 3,330,200

In addition to the free service, many fans bicycle to the ballpark and lock their bikes to one of the

many area bike racks offered by the Cubs and the City. For example, self lock bike racks are provided

on the southeast corner of the intersection of Clark Street and Waveland Avenue and it is typically at

capacity during Cubs games.

The City of Chicago will be launching a bike share program in the summer of 2013. It is anticipatedthere will be a number of bike share stations in close proximity to Wrigley Field.


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Vehicular Traffic

While there are many options to access Wrigley Field, some fans clearly prefer to drive and continueto seek parking near the ballpark. This section discusses traffic conditions in and around the ballpark.

Street Network

The existing street network is shown in Figure 2 and identifies one-way streets and traffic signal

locations.

Clark StreetClark Street is a two-lane, northwest/southeast street adjacent to the west side of Wrigley Field. It is

signalized at its intersections with Irving Park Road, Addison Street and Sheffield Avenue/Newport

Avenue. It is under all-way stop control at its intersection with Waveland Avenue, Roscoe Avenue,

and School Street. A buffer protected bike lane is provided on Clark Street, south of Addison Street,

and a marked shared bike lane is provided on Clark Street, north of Addison Street. Clark Street is

under the jurisdiction of CDOT.

Addison Street

Addison Street is a two-lane, east/west street adjacent to the south side of Wrigley Field. Addison

Street is signalized at its intersections with Racine Avenue, Clark Street and Sheffield Avenue. It is


Irving Park Road

Irving Park Road is a major east/west arterial roadway connecting to both Lake Shore Drive and

Interstate 90/94. In the area of Clark Street, Irving Park Road provides one lane of travel in eachdirection and a center left-turn lane, though parking is prohibited on the north side of Irving ParkRoad after games to allow for two travel lanes, between Clark Street and Southport Avenue. To the

west of Southport Avenue, the westbound direction of Irving Park Road is striped to provide two

travel lanes. To the west of Ashland Avenue, the road widens to provide two lanes of travel in each

direction and a center left-turn lane/median. Irving Park Road is under the jurisdiction of the Illinois

Department of Transportation (IDOT).

Waveland Avenue

Waveland Avenue is a two-lane, east/west street adjacent to the north side of Wrigley Field. It is


Sheffield Avenue


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Charter buses drop-off passengers on the south side of Waveland Avenue before a game. On-street

space is provided for charter buses to stage during the game on both sides of Irving Park Road,between Clark Street and Seminary Avenue and on the east side of Clark Street, between Byron Street

and south of Irving Park Road. After games, charter buses pick up passengers on the south side of

Waveland Avenue and the west side of Sheffield Avenue.

Taxis

Taxis are popular around Wrigley Field at all times, but particularly on event days. Taxi drivers

typically want to drop-off and pick-up passengers as close to Wrigley Field as possible. Taxi cabstands were experimented with in the past, but were not successful because taxi drivers felt they were

too far away from Wrigley Field and fans exiting from gates distant from the taxi stand preferred to

and did - hail cabs on the nearest street.

Limousines

Limousines are seen fairly infrequently during most Cubs games, but their use picks up significantly

for concerts. Neighbors have raised one primary issue regarding limousines: limousines illegally

parking (double parking or parking in No Parking Zones) on residential streets as they wait for the

concert to end. In most cases, the driver remains with the parked vehicle.

Parking

There are a number of options for parking in the area around Wrigley Field:

Off-street parking

The Cubs currently own or lease and operate nine parking lots, including one at Challenger Parkowned by the Chicago Park District. A description of each parking lot is listed below:

Red Lot: The Red Lot is located directly adjacent to Wrigley Field and has a capacity of 68parking spaces.

Blue Lot: The Blue Lot is located on the west side of Seminary Avenue, between Grace Streetand Waveland Avenue and has a capacity of 150 parking spaces.

Purple Lot: The Purple lot is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Clark Streetand Waveland Avenue and has a capacity of 73 parking spaces.

Orange Lot: The Orange lot is located on east side of Clark Street just north of Grace Street and


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Brown Lot: The Brown lot is located on Eddy Street, just east of Racine Avenue and has acapacity of 200 parking spaces.

Gold Lot: The Gold lot is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Clifton Avenueand Waveland Avenue and has a capacity of 48 parking spaces.

McDonalds Lot: The McDonalds lot is located on the northwest corner of the intersection ClarkStreet and Addison Street and has an estimated capacity of 35 parking spaces.

Challenger Park: The Challenger Park parking lot is located on the north side of Irving ParkRoad, directly under the CTA rail tracks and has a capacity of 200 parking spaces.

A map of the parking lots is shown in Figure 3.

Parking at Cubs-operated lots can be purchased in advance of the game by calling the Cubs. Many

lots also offer cash parking on game days when the lot is not otherwise filled.

In addition to the parking provided by the Cubs, there are a number of privately-owned surface and

structure parking lots which offer gameday parking. Exhibit 5 lists a number of these lots as well as

their estimated capacities. This number has diminished in recent years as surface parking lots have

been developed and replaced with commercial businesses, such as some of the new bars and

restaurants along Clark Street.


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Exhibit 5

Existing Private Off-Street Parking SupplyAddress Parking Supply

801 W Addison St 12

808 W Addison St 122

835 W Addison St 27

932 W Addison St 22

1015-1023 W Addison St 80





2848 N Broadway Ave 125

3012 N Broadway 70

3114 N Broadway 27

3115 N Broadway 80

3157 N Broadway 76



2836 N Clark St 427

3134 N Clark St 102

3211 N Clark St 38

3310 N Clark St 12

3427 N Clark St 28

3455 N Clark St 26

3458 N Clark St 32

3650 N Clark St 58

3701 N Clark St 31

3745 N Clark St 75

3848 N Clark St 23

3701-3709 N Clifton Ave 37

635 W Grace St 180

3514-3522 N Halsted St 53

3532 N Halsted St 15


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832 W Sheridan Rd 20

851 W Waveland Ave 49

1141 W Waveland Ave 17

Total 2890

The pricing of off-street parking in 2013 during events varies between $10 and $50, depending on the day

of the event and location of the lot.

In addition to parking spaces provided by the Cubs and private operators, many residents and businessessell individual parking spaces. This is not licensed and the City of Chicago does not receive taxes on these

purchases. This market seemingly changes on a daily basis, so it is difficult to estimate the precise

number of spaces available, but based on our observations we estimate between 200 and 400 additional

spaces per game.

Pre-paid parking helps reduce traffic in the community by reducing the travel time and transaction costs

as fans circle neighborhood streets looking for an open parking lot and then often try to negotiate a price

with a community resident selling his or her garage. At least two companies, ParkWhiz and SpotHero,

maintain relationships with parking owners in the community and allow fans to purchase parking online

before the game. This reduces over-circulation, which is the driving when fans are looking for parking.

On-street parking

While fans who drive to Wrigley Field are strongly encouraged to use the Remote Parking facility or to

pay for parking at one of the Cubs or privately-owned facilities, some park on residential streets when

such parking is permitted by law. The following provisions are in place related to residential street

parking:

Vehicles without a Zone 383 permit are prohibited from parking from 6 PM to 6 AM in the areabounded by Irving Park Road to the north, Belmont Avenue to the south, Ashland Avenue to the

west and Broadway Avenue to the east. Vehicles parking in this area without a permit during a

night game can be towed. It is legal to park in these areas during day games.

Vehicles without a Zone 383 permit are prohibited from parking any time on segments of CliftonStreet, Seminary Avenue, Kenmore Avenue, Wilton Avenue and Fremont Street.

Vehicles without an LV2 permit are prohibited from parking in the areas generally bounded byMontrose Avenue to the north, Irving Park Road to the south, Ashland Avenue to the west and

Clark Street to the east and in the area bounded by Irving Park Road to the north, Roscoe Street to

the south Ravenswood Avenue to the west and Ashland Avenue to the east


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issuance of parking tickets is handled by the Chicago Police Detail Unit, the Department of Revenue and

the 19th Police District.

Night baseball parking enforcement activities are coordinated at the Wrigley Field Police Command

Center in the 19th District Police Station at 850 W. Addison. The Command Center was previously

located in the Cubs-owned Brown lot at 1140 W. Eddy.

Towing enforcement actions for night baseball resident parking violations are initiated as a result of any

one of the following: A citizen request to the night baseball telephone hotline 1-866-4CPD-TOW. A request from an involved Aldermans office (32nd, 44th, 46th, 47th Wards). Police designated street surveys for parking violators in one of two designated zones which rotate

on a game-by-game basis.

o Zone 1 is the area bounded by and including Grace Street on the north, Belmont Avenue onthe south, Racine Avenue on the east and Ashland Avenue on the west.

o Zone 2 is the area bounded by and including Grace Street on the north, Belmont Avenue onsouth, Halsted Street on the east and Racine Avenue on the west.

The Zone not enforced as part of the towing operation is enforced with parking violation

enforcement by Parking Enforcement Aides of the Department of Revenue.

Vehicles towed as a result of any enforcement action are towed to Auto Pound #6 at 701 N. Sacramento

(773) 265-7605. It will cost, at minimum, $160.00 to retrieve a vehicle. A citizen can check to see iftheir car has been towed by calling 311.

The Cubs have helped greatly in this effort by sponsoring a hot line for neighbors to call to report traffic

and parking violations. Few calls have been reported to the hot line on an annual basis.

SSE conducted spot counts and observations of residential parking during evening games and did not find

many vehicles parked without a residential permit. Many vehicles were parked with guest permits. Thesecould be legitimate guests of residents in the neighborhood or these passes could have been provided by

residents to ticket holders.

A map of the existing parking restrictions is shown in Figure 4.


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Existing Traffic Counts

To quantify the operations in the study, both on gamedays and non-gameday, traffic counts wereconducted in May 2013 using Miovision cameras. Counts were conducted during the following time

periods:

Friday, May 3, 4:00 PM 7:00 PM to study post-game traffic. The post-game peak hour traffic isshown in Figure 5.

Tuesday, May 7, 4:00 PM 11:00 PM to study pre- and post-game traffic. The pre-game peakhour traffic is shown in Figure 6. The post-game peak hour traffic is shown in Figure 7.

Wednesday, May 8, 4:00 PM 7:30 PM to study post-game traffic. The post-game peak hourtraffic is shown in Figure 8. Friday, May 10, 2:00 PM 8:00 PM to study non-gameday traffic. The 4:30-5:30 PM traffic

volumes are shown in Figure 9. The 6:15-7:15 PM traffic volumes are shown in Figure 10.

Thursday, May 9, 4:00 PM 6:00 PM and Saturday, May, 11, 11:30 AM 1:30 PM to studynon-gameday traffic. The weekday and Saturday peak hour traffic volumes are shown in Figure

11.

Exhibit 6 lists the ticketed attendance and weather for each game.

Exhibit 6

Details of Cubs Games Studied

Date

Gametim

e

Game

Length Opponent Ticketed Attendance Weather

Friday, May 3 1:20 PM 3:29 Cincinnati Reds 32.579

41 degrees,

cloudy

Tuesday, May 7 7:05 PM 2:37

St. Louis

Cardinals 30,161 64 degrees, clear

Wednesday, May

8 1:20 PM 2:53

St. Louis

Cardinals 26,354 63 degrees, sunny

The locations and times of the traffic counts were based on input received in community meetings and theoverall scope was approved by the Chicago Department of Transportation. The locations, dates, and times

of the counts are shown in Exhibit 7.


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Wrigley Field Traffic and Parking Study

Page 17

Exhibit 7

Traffic Count Locations and Times

Intersection

Friday, May 3 1:20 PM Game time Tuesday, May 7 7:05 PM Game time

Wednesday, May 8

1:20 PM Game

time

Thursday, May 9

No Game

Friday, May 10

No Game

Saturday, May 11

No Game

11:30 AM - 1:30 PM 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM 4:00 PM - 7:30 PM 9:30 PM - 11:30 PM 4:00 PM - 7:30 PM 4:00 PM - 7:30 PM 2:00 PM - 8:00 PM 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Clark Street/Irving Park Road X X X X X X X X

Clark Street/Racine Avenue X X X X X X X X

Clark Street/Grace Street X X X X X X X X

Clark Street/Waveland Avenue X X X X X X X X

Clark Street/Addison Street X X X X X X X X

Clark Street/Sheffield Avenue/Newport Avenue X X X X X X X

Clark Street/Roscoe Street X X X X X X X

Clark Street/School Street X X X X X X X

Clark Street/Belmont Avenue X X X X X X X

Sheffield Avenue/Irving Park Road X X X X X X X Sheffield Avenue/Addison Street X X X X X X X

Racine Avenue/Addison Street X X X X X X X X

Ashland Avenue/Irving Park Road X X X X X X X

Ashland Avenue/Addison Street X X X X X X X

Ashland Avenue/Belmont Avenue/Lincoln Avenue X X X X X X X

Western Avenue/Irving Park Road X X X X X X X

Western Avenue/Addison Street X X X X X X X

Oakley/Irving Park Road X X

Leavitt/Irving Park Road X X

Leavitt/Addison Street X X

Damen Avenue/Irving Park Road/Lincoln Avenue X X Damen Avenue/Addison Street X X

Wolcott/Addison Street X X

Ravenswood Avenue/Irving Park Road X X

Ravenswood Avenue/Addison Street/Lincoln Avenue X X

Paulina Avenue/Addison Street X X

Broadway Avenue/Irving Park Road X X X X X X X

Broadway Avenue/Addison Street X X X X X X X

Broadway Avenue/Belmont Avenue X X X X X X X

N Lake Shore Drive/Irving Park Road X X X X X X X

N Lake Shore Drive Southbound Ramps/Belmont Avenue X X X X X X X

N Lake Shore Drive Northbound Ramps/Belmont Avenue X X X X X X X Southport Avenue/Irving Park Road X X X X X X X

Southport Avenue/Addison Street X X X X X X X

Halsted Street/Addison Street X X X X X X X

Halsted Street/Belmont Avenue X X X X X X X

Sheridan Road/Belmont Avenue X X X X X X X

Inner Lake Shore/Addison Street X X X X X X X

Clarendon Avenue/Irving Park Road X X X X X X X

Marine Drive/N Lake Shore Drive/Irving Park Road X X X X X X X


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An analysis was conducted of each time period using Synchro. Synchro is a modeling program providing

a level of service for each intersection using a methodology from the Highway Capacity Manual. Theresults from the Synchro analysis included in the Appendix. Our conclusions and recommendations from

the Sycnrho analysis are listed below:

The interconnect systems designed and implemented by CDOT on Irving Park Road andAddison Street have a tremendous impact on moving traffic out of the neighborhood after

a game.

Consider raising the cycle lengths during post game flush period (day and night game) onIrving Park from Southport to Damen from 90 secs to 100 secs. This will match the

existing cycle lengths on Irving at: Western, Oakley, Leavitt and Clark, and provide

opportunity for better progression (assuming no manual control). It would also reduce

delay at Lincoln/Damen/Irving by 25%.

Consider raising the cycle lengths during post game flush period (day and night game) onAddison from Ashland to Leavitt from 90 secs to 100 secs. This will match the existing

cycle lengths at Western and provide opportunity for westbound progression out of the

neighborhood from Ashland to Western.

Existing Game Day Operations

SSE conducted observations throughout the month of May and found the following:

General Observations

There is significantly more traffic congestion in the immediate area of Wrigley Field post-game,compared to pre-game, because the majority of fans are leaving the area in the first 30 minutesafter the game, whereas fans coming to the game are spread throughout the approximate 90

minutes before a game. By 45 minutes after an event, streets are generally clear of the majority of

Cubs fans.

The majority of people driving are coming from the north and northwest suburbs. The zip codeswith the highest number of season ticket holders are located in Chicago, close to Wrigley Field

(60657, 60613, 60614, 60618, 60611, 60610). The highest number of season tickets holdersoutside of Chicago are located in 60062 (Northbrook), 60015 (Deerfield), 60093 (Winnetka),

60201 (Evanston), and 60068 (Park Ridge). This is consistent with the 2002 Traffic and Parking

Study conducted for Wrigley Field. The majority of traffic, pre- and post-game, is east-west on

Irving Park Road and Addison Street. Other than Clark Street, there is much less traffic on the

north-south streets in the neighborhood


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Both Sheffield Avenue, between Waveland Avenue and Addison Street, and Waveland Avenue,between Seminary Avenue and Sheffield Avenue, are closed by Chicago Police officers before

(approximately 120 minutes), during and after (approximately 30-60 minutes) Wrigley Field

events. Vehicles can turn on to Waveland Avenue from Clark Street to access the Blue or Gold

Lots.

There is no messaging on city streets to provide information to drivers about Cubs game dayactivities or to ask motorists to avoid the area. The only messaging is provided on the KennedyExpressway and it only advertises the remote parking lot.

There is no signage at Wrigley Field to help people get to their destination on transit, whether it isCTA, Pace or Metra.

There are no CTA fare card machines other than at the Addison Red Line station. There are a small number of limousines at Cubs games, but their use is considerably higher

during concerts.

Pre-Game

Turns are prohibited at the intersection of Clark Street and Addison Street. This helps trafficmove smoother, makes it safer for pedestrians and provides more space for pedestrians.

No information is provided to drivers on where parking is located or the price of parking. Thisleads to fans overcirculating through the neighborhood, looking for the best deal on parking with

regard to price and location.

Fans who take the Red Line, both northbound and southbound, typically exit at the AddisonStreet stop. There are three exits at this station: one on the south side of Addison Street, one of

the north side of Addison Street and one on the north side of the station on an alley. The majority

of people exit on the north side of Addison Street and the sidewalk is fairly narrow. This leads tocongestion on the sidewalk, which is made worse by the ticket scalpers, bar solicitors,

merchandise sales, street peddlers and other commercial activity on this segment of Addison

Street.

A b i d i id d t th d f th id lk l b th id f Addi St t t


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The Wrigley Field entrance gate at Clark Street and Addison Street is by far the most congestedof the four main gates due to the limited footprint as well as the demand. Because of this, fansoften spill out into the intersection.

Both Pace buses and CTA Route 154 buses drop passengers off on the west side of Clark Street,between Waveland Avenue and Addison Street. Most passengers were observed using the main

gate at Clark Street and Addison Street.

Many fans who park in the Green Lot were observed walking along Clark Street to reach theballpark. This adds to the congestion on Clark Street by adding to the conflicts between

pedestrians and vehicles. It is not the most direct route for pedestrians.

The check-in area for charter buses, on Waveland Avenue at Seminary Avenue, is short in lengthand gets easily congested. Buses routinely queued on Clark Street waiting to turn.

There is a considerable amount of congestion at Clark Street and Waveland Avenue, withpedestrians, charter buses, vehicles and CTA buses.

Northbound charter buses waiting to turn onto Waveland Avenue were observed queuing onClark Street, blocking northbound through traffic.

Charter buses were observed stopping adjacent to Gate K, which blocks Waveland Avenue. After dropping off passengers, charter buses were observed turning right from Addison Street to

Clark Street. All charter buses should be directed away from Wrigley Field after dropping off

passengers.

Charter buses are permitted to park on both sides of Irving Park Road, between Clark Street andSeminary Avenue, and the west side of Clark Street, both north and south of Irving Park Road.

After dropping off passengers, charter buses typically first take up the space on the north side of

Irving Road then the south side of Irving Park Road then the Clark Street, south of Irving ParkRoad. No buses were seen parked on the west side of Clark Street, north of Irving Park Road.

Though the free bike check is very popular and close to Wrigley Field, it is somewhat difficult tofind. There is no signage on Clark Street directing bicyclists to it. After the game there was a line

t th bik h k Thi ld di f t bik


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Traffic flows about as well as it can after the game under the control of the Traffic Control Aidesconsidering the number of vehicles leaving the area at one time. This is a challenging job as thereare many conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians following the game.

Irving Park Road has the most capacity of any street in the area. Traffic should be directed to itas much as possible.

OEMC has successfully established a clear zone at the intersection of Clark Street and AddisonStreet. Eastbound, westbound and southbound traffic is prohibited from reaching the intersectionof Clark and Addison. This helps ease pedestrian congestion at the main gate of Wrigley Field

and makes it easier for buses to exit.

Assuming current conditions, the five critical intersections to post-game traffic flow are ClarkStreet/Waveland Avenue, Clark Street/Grace Street/Racine Avenue, Clark Street/Irving Park

Road, Southport Avenue/Irving Park Road, and Ashland Avenue/Irving Park Road. If one of

these intersections is operating poorly, it affects the entire operations of outbound traffic. A

discussion of the observations of each intersection is listed below:

o Waveland Avenue/Clark Street: There is no traffic signal at this intersection and it is operatedentirely under the manual control of TCAs. In addition to vehicle traffic, there is significant

pedestrian traffic crossing Clark Street and Waveland Avenue, Pace and CTA buses and

charter buses turning on to Waveland Avenue to pick up passengers. The volume of

pedestrians makes this a very difficult intersection to control manually. Delays at this

intersection have the greatest impact on charter buses turning on to Waveland Avenue andPace and CTA buses which want to travel north on Clark Street. A traffic signal has been

proposed for this intersection and could improve operations. A bridge over Clark Street will

also help manage pedestrian traffic at the street level.

o Clark Street/Grace Street/Racine Avenue: The largest parking lot in the area is the Green Loton Grace Street and the majority of traffic exits the Green Lot to this intersection. Racine

Avenue and Grace Street do not intersect with Clark Street at the same location, which causeschallenges. Traffic is prohibited from travelling south on Clark Street, making a northbound

left-turn from Clark Street and making a southbound left-turn from Clark Street during post-

game.

The TCAs control the traffic signal and limit it to three phases: northbound/southbound


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o Clark Street/Irving Park Road: This is the critical intersection for outbound traffic as well astraffic operations on Irving Park Road. The only movement prohibited at this intersection iswestbound left-turns (with the exception of charter buses). The northbound approach of Clark

Street provides a left-turn lane, a through lane and a right-turn lane at Irving Park Road.

When westbound traffic on Irving Park Road is queued to Clark Street from Southport

Avenue, then northbound and westbound traffic at the intersection cant move through the

intersection. This causes further backups on westbound Irving Park Road and northbound

Clark Street.

o Southport Avenue/Irving Park Road: This intersection causes a considerable amount of theissues in moving post-game traffic. Southport Avenue dead-ends two blocks to the north of

Irving Park Road and the majority of vehicles travelling north at the intersection are those

cutting through the neighborhood to avoid Clark Street and Southport Avenue. Southport

Avenue is located approximately 450 to the west of Clark Street. When traffic on Southport

Avenue receives green times, traffic on westbound Irving Park Road has a red signal. This

means that no traffic can travel westbound on Irving Park Road at Clark Street or make a

northbound left-turn from Clark Street to Irving Park once this small distance between thetwo intersections has cars queued in it. We observed a number of instances where the amount

of green time provided to traffic on Southport Avenue caused gridlock at the intersection of

Irving Park Road and Clark Street.

o Ashland Avenue/Irving Park Road: Both Ashland Avenue and Irving Park Road are arterialroadways and carry high volumes of traffic. The operations at this intersection must be made

as efficient as possible. TCAs control the traffic signal at this location during the post-game.Through traffic on both streets should be prioritized over the left-turn lanes, which should

only be given minimum green times. We often observed the traffic signal being adjusted to

provide more than the minimum green time in order clear the left-turn queues. This has a

large impact on the operations of through traffic on both streets. We also observed cycle

length times in excess of 200 seconds, which is not efficient.

Traffic does get congested at Irving Park Road and Seminary Avenue. This is due to Irving ParkRoad being reduced to one lane in each direction at this location and the volume of pedestrians

crossing Irving Park Road to reach the Challenger Park parking lot.

The #152 buses line up along Addison Street after the game and the CTA loads one bus at a time.The front door of each bus allows both fare card and cash transactions and the rear door has a


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There are a large number of pedicabs on Waveland Avenue and Sheffield Avenue after the game.These users were observed using space reserved for charter buses and adding to congestion on

Clark Street after the games.

Taxi operations are very unpredictable after the games. Drivers are looking to pick up passengersright outside of Wrigley Field, which results in all cabs trying to get as close as possible.

Potential ImprovementsBased on SSEs observations, the intersection analysis and discussions with residents, CDOT, OEMC,

CTA and Pace, we offer the following recommendation to potentially improve traffic flow before and

after games. The potential improvements are shown in Figure 13.

1. The Cubs, CDOT and OEMC should annually review how Traffic Control Aides are deployedand how they are controlling the traffic signals. This is a very difficult job and the TCAs do a

very good job. Having additional expertise reviewing operations will only make the system work

better. All TCAs should be trained in the operations of signals and how the pedestrian clearance

interval works. In addition, because traffic patterns are most critical post-game, consideration

should be given to altering shifts to allocate more Traffic Control Aides following the game and

fewer before.

2. Traffic signals should be installed at the intersections of Clark Street/Waveland Avenue, ClarkStreet/Roscoe Street, and Clark Street/School Street as well as an interconnect system on Clark

Street, between Belmont Avenue and Irving Park Road. CDOT has conducted signal warrantstudies for these intersections in the past and show that these intersection do warrant a traffic

signal. This should improve traffic flow on Clark Street.

3. Additional study should be conducted on the impact of minimizing the amount of green time thatSouthport Avenue traffic receives at Irving Park Road to promote through traffic on Irving Park

Road. Consideration should be given to prohibiting westbound right-turns at the intersection of

Southport Ave/Grace Street to minimize the amount of northbound traffic on Southport Avenue

at Irving Park Road. Reducing Southport Avenue traffic will reduce the amount of time gridlock

is experienced at Clark Street/Irving Park Road.

4. Consideration should be given to restricting all parking after events on Clark Street, betweenIrving Park Road and Grace Street. This will allow for two northbound lanes on Clark Street on


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6. The intersection of Clark Street/Grace Street/Racine Avenue could be re-configured with conesafter games to improve traffic flow. This could allow the northbound left-turn from Racine

Avenue and the northbound through movement on Clark Street to operate at the same time. A

right-turn lane and a combination left-turn/through/right-turn lane could be provided on

westbound Grace Street.

7. The manual controlled cycle length at Ashland Avenue and Irving Park Road should matchCDOTs suggested cycle length as closely as possible. Left-turn phases should be the minimum

and the priority should be on through traffic on Ashland Avenue and Irving Park Road.

8. Additional analysis should be conducted of existing variable message boards used by the City forCubs game and determine if they should be relocated. The Cubs should also work with traffic

reporting companies to alert drivers of congestion due to Cubs games and to avoid driving

through the neighborhood if its not necessary.

9. The Cubs should explore the possibility of pre-selling parking, both Cubs owned and non-Cubsowned, on a website or app.

10.Determine how wayfinding could be improved to provide more information on the location andavailability of Cubs-operated parking pre-game and signs to the highway post-game.

11.The Cubs should continue to provide in-game announcements and information on the messageboards throughout the stadium on transit.

12.Explore the feasibility of installing CTA fare card machines on the sidewalks immediatelyoutside Wrigley Field.

13.All charter buses should be encouraged to pull up as close to Sheffield Avenue as possible.14.Barricades on Addison Street should always be placed in the street (just off the sidewalk) and not

on the sidewalk to provide as much room for pedestrians as possible. Ticket brokers should not be

allowed to delay or slow pedestrians by offering merchandise outside their storefronts.

15.CTA passengers, both rail and bus, should be encouraged to purchase their return fare before thegame. The Cubs should work with the CTA to develop messaging in the Addison Red Line


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17.Consideration should be given to establishing a temporary auto pound to improve the efficiencyof the towing operation for night events. More study is necessary to determine the feasibility ofthis recommendation.

18.Street peddlers and street performers should not be allowed to perform in the public rights of waywhere they pose obstacles for pedestrians and potentially impact public safety.

19.Cubs should promote bicycle ridership through events and prizes (e.g. free pair of tickets forwhomever rides his/her bike most often in a season; Divvy Bikeshare night).


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4.

Additional RecommendationsFor the past decade, the Cubs have strengthened their commitment to reducing the impact of Wrigley

Field events on traffic and parking in the neighborhood. This has been accomplished through the Remote

Parking facility at DeVry University, messaging on the Interstate, the free bike check service and

encouraging people to take transit among other steps. The recommendations listed in this report will, if

adopted, enhance the Cubs existing programs and further reduce traffic and parking in the neighborhood.

The success of this program will be the responsibility of not only the Cubs, but the City, Chicago TransitAuthority, Pace, Metra and the rooftop owners. Importantly, the suggestions in this report are

recommendations only. It is not critical every one of these be adopted, but an open discussion on this

topic will help clarify issues and allow all concerned to have a say in enhancing transportation issues

related to Wrigley Field.

The Cubs have already begun to implement a number of the recommendations. Some of the

recommendations will require as approvals from multiple agencies. The recommendations have been

grouped into those which could happen in the short term and those which will take at least a year to

investigate, analyze and consider.

Short Term

1. Eliminate the fee for Remote Parking facility and heavily promote its use.It currently costs $6 to use the Remote Parking facility at DeVry University. This cost and the time it

takes to travel to and from the ballpark are likely the largest obstacles to increasing use of this facility.

Alderman Tunney has asked the Cubs to consider eliminating this fee to encourage more people to use thefacility. This option should also continue to be promoted on the Cubs website, during the game and

through other marketing strategies. A free and well-promoted Remote Parking facility has to potential to

vehicles from the local street system before and after the games as well as reduce the on- and off-street

parking demand. The Cubs should work with CTA to determine if additional incentives can be provided

on the bus, such as free wireless or food, if such incentives encourage more people to use the service.

The system should then be evaluated to determine the impact of the change.

2. Actively promote alternatives to driving and provide information to ticket holders.The use of alternative options to driving can potentially be increased by ensuring fans are fully aware of

the availability and attractiveness of potential alternative choices. Travel choices, once established a few

times, tend to become habits and individuals do not necessarily invest the time or effort to (re)consider

alternative choices In addition to promoting the viability of alternatives there is considerable value to


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after the survey respondents were presented with information about the transportation options available to

reach it, 54.4% of respondents then stated they would travel via public transit (an increase of 9.0percentage points from the initial responses). These results quantify what has been experienced at other

venues; namely, promoting the viability of transit can have a profound effect on the travel choices people

make.

3. Implement a formal transportation demand management programThe Cubs should implement a formal transportation demand management program to continually address

the traffic and parking demand generated for Cubs games and other events at Wrigley Field. This sort of

program should reflect the flexibility to change during the course of a season or during the course of an

event in response to increased demand. A staff member should be responsible for administering the

program and being a liaison with the Chicago Department of Transportation, the Office of Emergency

Management & Communications, the Chicago Transit Authority, Pace and Metra. Because the

transportation demand is due to not only the Cubs, but also local bars, restaurants, and rooftops, all

entities should contribute to the solutions to improve the overall traffic and parking conditions in the

community.

Precedent: At CenturyLink Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, the stadium has an on-staff

transportation manager to coordinate event day parking and transportation needs, community outreach

and the distribution of access information. At the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, they have an on-staff

transportation manager as well as an on-site transportation control room where arena operators

communicate in real-time with the transit agency, traffic and pedestrian managers and the police.

4.

Redesign the presentation of transportation information on cubs.com.The official Cubs website presents transportation information on five separate web pages: a main

transportation page [Homepage -> Wrigley Field -> Transportation] and four subpages for different travel

modes (Bike Riders; CTA Information; Driving directions; Transportation Hubs). The Getting

to Wrigley Field link on the homepage, which sports the tagline Find out the best ways to get to the

game! connects not to the main transportation page but to the Driving Directions page. Fans have to

navigate back from the driving page get to information on transit and cycling from the homepage link.

This portion of the Cubs website should be overhauled and substantially redesigned to emphasize public

transit access as the best way to Wrigley Field. Different modes of travel and their time and costs should

be presented side-by-side or in an easy to compare format on the same page. The Cubs should integrate

CTA Train Tracker and Bus Tracker widgets into the website so fans can access up-to-date transportation

information. Consideration should also be given to developing an application for mobile devices to


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same map which fans can easily click through to compare. Estimated travel times by train are also

presented.

5. Change Residential Parking Signs to Provide More Information.The current on-street signage prohibiting parking for night games at Wrigley Field reads No Parking

Game Days. While it would be great to have this signage apply for concerts and other events, the

wording of the signs makes it unclear whether this also applies to events such as concerts. Two

alternatives would improve the information provided:

a. All signs be changed to read NO PARKING WRIGLEY FIELD NIGHT EVENTS and the noparking hours on Fridays should be modified to begin at 3 PM.

b. The Cubs, the City and the neighborhood should explore additional methods to alert people ofparking restrictions on residential streets. This could involve an app for mobile devices or

physical changes to the signs, such as a small red light to alert people when parking is prohibited

by non-residents. The City of Chicago piloted a similar program for street sweeping in 2008.

6. Promote the Citys bike share program.The Cubs should work with CDOT to promote the Citys Divvy bike share program. This could include

in-game announcements and promotions or include it in other advertisements for transit.

7. Improve the information on the variable message signs to encourage people to use RemoteParking.

The current variable messaging signs provide information on how to access the Remote Parking lot. This

should be modified so to incentivize drivers to use it. One way to accomplish this would be to display thetime/cost of driving to the Remote Parking as opposed to Wrigley Field.

8. Promote CTA Remote Parking lots.The CTA currently provides four Remote Parking lots (Red Line Howard, Purple Line Linden,

Yellow Line Skokie, Brown Line Kimball) which could be used by fans from the north and northwest

suburbs. The Cubs should market these options much more aggressively on their website and mailings to

season ticket holders.

9. Incentivize fans to take Metra, Pace or to use the Remote Parking.


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10.Pilot strategies to better manage taxi operations.Managing taxis around Wrigley Field is extremely challenging due to the dynamic and unpredictablenature of taxi drivers. A taxi stand was previously installed on Sheffield Avenue but was unsuccessful

because taxi drivers did not want to wait for customers to find them. For taxi stands to be successful, they

must be the most convenient location for both drivers and passengers and promoted accordingly. The City

would also need to step up enforcement to ensure the taxi drivers all use the designated location and do

not pick up fares on other streets.

The Cubs should work with CDOT and the Department of Business License and Affairs to develop and

pilot different strategies with the goal of making the operations more organized. Consideration should be

given to allowing only taxis and CTA buses to use Addison Street, between Clark Street and Halsted

Street, after games and prohibiting taxis from using Clark Street.

10. Treat limousines as charter buses during events.Concerts and events at Wrigley Field often times generate a higher volume of limousines; these events

also generate considerably fewer charter buses. It is recommended limousines be directed to pick-

up/drop-off on Waveland Avenue before and after games and limousines are given a special permit topark where charter buses park during games. The signs on Irving Park Road and Clark Street should be

changed to read NO PARKING EXCEPT BUSES OR LIMOS ON WRIGLEY FIELD NIGHT

EVENTS.

11.Rooftop Traffic and Parking Plan.In addition to the fans who attend games inside Wrigley Field, approximately 2,500 to 3,000 fans

purchase tickets at the adjacent buildings on Waveland Avenue and Sheffield Avenue to watch from therooftops. However, there is no parking formally provided for these fans or any sort of traffic management

plan.

It is recommended the rooftop owners develop a traffic and parking study which includes a mode choice

survey and encourages users to use options other than driving to the neighborhood. Rooftop owners

should contribute to the cost of the recommendations in this report to the same extent as the Cubs, except

in 7% of the cost amount, since rooftop attendance constitutes approximately 7% of the attendance of

Wrigley Field on game days.

12.Promote the purchase of CTA, Metra and Pace fare media along with Cubs ticket sales.Obtaining and paying for the correct fare media may be a potential barrier to public transit use, especially

for fans who are not regular users of the CTA, Metra or Pace systems. To reduce this barrier, transit fare


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programmed to enable rides after Cubs games to be charged at discounted rates. Transit options should

also be printed on tickets.

13. Continue to encourage employees to participate in the RTA/CTA Transit Benefit Fare Program.The RTA/CTA Transit Benefit Fare Program allows employees to deduct up to $245 per month from

their paychecks pre-tax to pay for their transit fares. With the pre-tax deduction, employees can save up

to 40% on their annual transit spend. The Cubs should continue to administer this program to encourage

more employees to take transit to work.

Long Term

14.Northbound Red Line Express service to Howard, Davis or Skokie.Adding post-game express CTA service northbound to Howard would reduce travel times from Wrigley

Field to Howard by 6 minutes and reduce crowding on Red Line trains and at the Addison Station. The

reduction in travel time and convenience of an express ride could help encourage CTA ridership for fans

in the northward reaches of the CTA service area and also help increase the use of Remote Parking lots

available at Howard (592 spaces), Linden (328) and Skokie (441).

To accomplish this, the addition of CTA trains into service would be necessary to maintain existing

headways and capacity on the Red Line. This could be achieved by using either the Red Line Addison

platform and having trains cross over to the Purple Line track after boarding passengers or using the outer

platform at Sheridan. The latter would be ideal, since it would help distribute some of the load of

northbound CTA passengers from Addison to Sheridan, thereby helping relieve post-game congestion at

Addison. It is recommended the ridership potential of this option is further investigated by examining

post-game Red Line use patterns in depth.

Precedent: The CTA already adjusts service for game days to include a stop at Sheridan on the

southbound Purple Line before games on weekdays and extend the duration of service until midnight for

the Yellow Line to Skokie after weeknight games. As part of the Transportation Demand Management

plan for the Citi Field construction, the New York City MTA introduced special super-express service in

the post-game period on the 7 subway line which skips 13 stops along the route, greatly reducing the

travel time between the ballpark and Manhattan and addressing the concerns of some fans comfortable

with taking the subway to the game but apprehensive about riding the subway late at night.

15.Explore new Pace express bus.The existing Wrigley Field service is one of Paces most successful programs and ridership has grown

tremendously since it was initially launched. There definitely is a demand for this type of service in the


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configured to a center platform in 1994, the facilities are in many ways still inadequate and as a result

transit patrons end up queuing back out of the station and onto the sidewalk along Addison Street.

There is a potential to improve the overall configuration and design of the station, including a larger

concourse area and additional stairways to the platforms. The footprint of the station could be expanded

under the four-track elevated structure, especially on the south side of Addison where the current

configuration is no entry with a high barrier gate control.

The Addison station is not part of the CTAs $86 million Red North Interim Station

Improvements program. However, it is recommended the Cubs work closely with the CTA to develop a

suitable station design for game-day conditions and input these contributions for construction in the Red

& Purple Modernization project (or sooner if other suitable sources of funding can be identified).

In addition, the station should be renamed as Cubs-Addison or Wrigley Field-Addison, similar to the

station adjacent to U.S. Cellular Field being named Sox-35th. This makes it easier and more comfortable

for fans from outside the City to take the Red Line and access the White Sox park. Changing the name of

the Addison station would increase awareness among fans from out of town and others who are notfamiliar with Chicagos transit system. This would likely increase usage of the El and reduce usage of

taxis and private vehicles.

Precedent: At Fenway Park in Boston, the Kenmore MBTA station included a larger head-house,

elevators for ADA accessibility and escalators and an expanded mezzanine and queuing space to

accommodate the game day crush. As part of the TDM plan for the Citi Field construction, physical

changes were made to the to the Mets-Willets Point station to improve pedestrian flow to the subwayplatforms. There are numerous transit stations across the station associated with teams and fields (Target

Field Station Minneapolis, Mets-Willet Point New York, Sports and Entertainment Complex

Philadelphia).

17.Explore RideShare.Pace RideShare is a free carpool and vanpool matching service offered to the Chicagoland area, typically

for commuters. The Cubs should work with Pace to determine if there is a possibility to offer a RideShare

program to Cubs games for fans that live close together and want to carpool or vanpool together.

18.Parking Management.In addition to parking officially provided by the Cubs, there is an informal and entrepreneurial industry of

surface parking lot operators around Wrigley Field. The model for many of these parking small


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purchase system for parking. Since drivers likely select facilities based on a balance of convenience and

cost, a pre-purchasing system may enable drivers to select parking locations along their route of travel,therefore limiting the amount of cruising and circulating through the congested area around the ballpark.

A pre-payment model has already emerged organically in the Wrigley Field neighborhood with online

parking reservation sites such as parkwhiz.com and spothero.com, which create a market to enable

individuals to temporarily rent their private parking space on games days (rather than standing in the

street). It is recommended the Cubs, in conjunction with the City, investigate ways to make the use of

such pre-payment systems mandatory and prohibit the solicitation of parking for sale at curbside (but not

online).

The City and the Cubs should also work with the Lakeview Chamber to promote existing parking lots in

the area through their website and parking reservation sites.

Precedent: At the Prudential Center in Newark, there is a centrally coordinated event parking program,

administered by Click and Park, where fans pre-purchase parking passes at facilities convenient to their

direction of their access route to/from the ballpark. Similarly, at the Barclays Center, an online parking

space reservation system is operated by Click and Park.


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5.

ConclusionWrigley Field is also unique among major league stadiums and arenas with respect to transportation.

Almost every other professional sports ballpark and venue in the United States is situated amid an

abundance of parking and in close proximity to interstate highways; Wrigley Field is neither. Both the

Cubs and the neighborhood have thrived over the years by managing traffic and parking congestion. One

of the reasons for this is the many fans who choose not to drive to Wrigley Field because of their

knowledge of the relative absence of parking around the ballpark.

There will always be issues with traffic congestion in the neighborhood. Implementing the suggestions in

this plan will offer an incremental approach to reducing the number of fans that drive in the area of

Wrigley Field and moving traffic and people out of the neighborhood quicker. Traffic and parking will be

continually evaluated with CDOT in the future to determine additional improvements that can further

improve the situation.


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Green Lot

650 SpacesOrange Lot16 Spaces

Red Lot150 Spaces

Gold Lot48 Spaces

Purple Lot73 Spaces

Brown Lot200 Spaces

McDonalds Lot35 Spaces

Challenger Lot650 Spaces

LA

KST

RVIN PARK R

GRACE STREET

WAVELAND AVE

SHEFFIELDA

RACINE

AVE

EXISTING PARKING

Blue Lot150 Spaces


38/72


39/72


40/72


41/72


42/72

FIGUR

Friday M

42


43/72

14

10

6

8

11

10

6

510

Friday, M

Post-Game Tr

Pedestrians and Bicyc

1. Belmont Avenue at Clark Street and Halsted Street

2. Addison Street at Racine Avenue, Clark Street, and Sheffield Avenue 3. Belmont Avenue at Sheridan Road and Lake Sho

207

204

140

157

465

561

302

185

170

174

137

201

785

761

723

533

134

46

81

103

27

21

12

6 FIGURE

43


44/72

5

5

5

18

78

23

5

21

Friday, Ma

Post-Game TraPedestrians and B

4. Addison Street at Lincoln Avenue and

Ravenswood Avenue

5. Irving Park Road at Broadway

Avenue and Clarendon Road

6. Clark Street at Grace Street and

Racine Avenue

5

19

7. Clark Street at Sheffield Ave

and Newport Avenue

11

112

353

47

52

1

56 2

16

77

146

46

84

68

189

65

75

109

40

46

312

208

216

4

17

3

60

156


45/72


46/72


47/72


48/72


49/72

47

FIGURE

T esda Ma181

49


50/72

2927

23

4

67

Tuesday, Ma

Pre-Game TraPedestrians and B


Ravenswood Avenue




Racine Avenue

21

77


and Newport Avenue

18

3

25 2

39

96

146

380

129

133

206

100

195

92 6

6

122

480

256

241

7

29

706

367

10 14

22

20

21

11

14

5

11

1

1

7

1

1


51/72


52/72


53/72


54/72


55/72

12

FIGURE

Tuesday Ma92

55


56/72

5

32

12

32

1722

68

12

78

Tuesday, Ma

Post-Game TraPedestrians and B


Ravenswood Avenue




Racine Avenue

29

38


and Newport Avenue

46

108

31

29

65

188 4

30

148

319

45

39

26

86

100

91

43

32

55

834

391

403

375

865

464

7

5 6

9

18


57/72


58/72

110

40

30

360

FIGUR

Wednesday, Ma

85

145

15

-

5

500

58


59/72

15

20

115

10 1

05

505

20

335

200 2

00

5 320

260

15

Wednesday, Ma

Post-Game Tra




Racine Avenue

20

15

45

25

85

15

35

75

10

5005000

00

500

25

345

50

-

6. Clark Street at Sheffield Avenue

and Newport Avenue

35

10

650

15

125

170

105

25

645

50

30

80

40

30

640

30

95

640

45

35

320

105

20

330


60/72


61/72


62/72


63/72


64/72

60

85

15

40

415

FIGUR

Firday, May

64


65/72

15

25

70

15

50

320

30

95 3

65

5 355

35 5

4:30-5:30 PM Tra




Racine Avenue

65

150

600

10

10

135

75

30

620

35

30

65

35

40

615

80

65

690

60 4

5

315

110

25

330


66/72


67/72

40

30

55

20

40

435

FIGURE

Friday, May

67


68/72

10

30

65

25

55

385

30

85 4

10

5 355

90 5

6:15-7:15 PM Tra




Racine Avenue

10

60

520

10

100

135

55

35

625

35

30

65

50

40

585

45

100

515

60 4

5

31

5

85

20

250

IRVIN PARK RD(50) 30

65 (65)

35 (35)

740 (745)

15(

25)

100(

85)

325(29

5)

FIGURE 11

Non-Gameday Traffic Volumes

XX W kd PM P k H (XX) S t d Midd P k H

68


69/72

RA E TREET

WAVELAND AV

(50) 30

(115) 140

(660) 710

(150)155

(45)

25

(305)42

0

(15) 10

(30) 25(50) 60

(20)20

(40)35

(390)520

55 (50)

30 (20)

85 (70)

20(

30)

45(

35)

430(

330)

(95)12

0

(-)

5(20)20

(455)465

20(

30)

390(31

5)

(5) 5

(25) 20

(45) 30

(20)35

(35)20

(325)405

65 (65)

30 (40)

55 (75)

5(

5) 2

5(

30)

365(

360)

XX: Weekday PM Peak Hour (XX): Saturday Midday Peak Hour

FIGURE 11Non-Gameday Traffic Volumes

XX: Weekday PM Peak Hour (XX): Saturday Midday Peak Hour5

0(

465)

69


70/72

ADDI N T

CLA

RKSTREET

(5)5

(5)5

(40) 20

(95) 95

(435) 400(35)30

(265)340

75 (85)

30 (40)445 (420)5

0(

65)

70(

75)

325(

330)

(90)95

(15) 20

(40) 65

(470) 455

(5)5

(230)235

15 (10)

45 (30)505 (505)

35(45)

5(5)

110(65)

-(-)

(-)5

(75)55

(50)50

(10

5)130

(-) -

(5) 5(-) -

10(10)

210(135)

45

0(

465)

(390)465

(10)5

(10)1

0

45

(390)465

ASHLANDAVE

DAMENAVE

WE

TERNAV

OAKLEYAVE

LEAVITTST

WOLCOTTAVE

RAVENSWOOD

AVE P

AULINAST

GREENVIEWA

VE

SOUTHPORTAVE

HOYNEAVE

SHERIDANRD

A

HERMITAGEAVE

LAREND

NR

CLARKST

LINCOLNAVE

F

Traffic Control A

LEGEND

Posts Secondary Posts

70


71/72

RACINE

AV

HA

L

EDAVE

HERIDANRD

A

HL

NDAVE

WE

TE

NAVE

OAKLEY

AVE

LEAVITT

ST

WOLCOTT

VE

RAVENS

WOOD

AVE

PAULIN

AS

GREENVIE

AVE

SOUTHP

ORTAVE

HOYNEAVE

LAKEWOODAVE

CLIFTONA

E

SEMINA

RYAVE

KENMO

RE

VE

SHEFFIELDAVE

BROADWAYAVE

BELM NT AV

DDI N T

IRVIN PARK R

BYRON STREET

GRACE STREET

WAVELAND AVE

CORNELIA AVE

ROSCOE ST

H L T

MELROSE ST

CLARKST

LINCOLN

AVE

ASHLANDAVE

DAMENAVE

WE

TERNAV

OAKLEYAVE

LEAVITTST

WOLCOTTAVE

RAVENSWOOD

AVE P

AULINAST

GREENVIEWA

VE

SOUTHPORTAVE

HOYNEAVE

SHERIDANRD

A

HERMITAGEAVE

LAREND

NR

CLARKST

LINCOLNAVE

F

Potential

Impr

71


72/72

RACINE

AV

HA

L

EDAVE

H

ERIDANRD

A

HL

NDAVE

WE

TE

NAVE

OAKLEY

AVE

LEAVITT

ST

WOLCOTT

VE

RAVENS

WOOD

AVE

PAULIN

AS

GREENVIE

AVE

SOUTHP

ORTAVE

HOYNE

AVE

LAKEWOODAVE

CLIFTONA

E

SEMINA

RYAVE

KENMO

RE

VE

SHEFFIELDAVE

BROADWAYAVE

BELM NT AV

DDI N T

IRVIN PARK R

BYRON STREET

GRACE STREET

WAVELAND AVE

CORNELIA AVE

ROSCOE ST

H L T

MELROSE ST

CLARKST

LINCOLN

AVE

1

1

1

1

2

3

4

5

5

6

7

8

9

10

Potential Improvements

1. Traffic signals should be installed at theintersections of Clark Street/Waveland Avenue,Clark Street/Roscoe Street, and ClarkStreet/School Street.

2. Traffic on Southport Avenue should be givenminimal green time to promote through traffic onIrving Park Road.

3. No parking of any type should be permittedafter events on Clark Street, between Irving ParkRoad and Grace Street.

4. Temporary signage should be provided atClark Street and Irving Park Road to allow thenorthbound direction to provide a left-turn lane, acombination left-turn/through lane and a right-turn lane.

5. The intersection of Clark Street/Grace

Street/Racine Avenue should be re-configuredwith cones after games to improve traffic flow.

6. The manual controlled cycle length at Ash-land Avenue and Irving Park Road should matchCDOTs suggested cycle length as closely as pos-sible.

7. All charter buses should be encouraged topull up as close to Sheffield Avenue as possible.

8. Barricades on Addison Street should alwaysbe placed in the street (just off the sidewalk) andnot on the sidewalk to provide as much room forpedestrians as possible.

9. CTA passengers, both rail and bus, shouldbe encouraged to purchase their return farebefore the game.

10. Restripe the Blue Lot to provide 90 degreeparking spaces, as opposed to the angle parking it

provides now.

Documents

Wrigley Gameday Traffic Management Plan