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Better traffic plan will be music to the ears of Alley concert-goers
More preparation, fewer people should make for easy access to Langerado Music Festival, officials say
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Everyone was ready for a jam — just not the traffic kind.
It was just over eight years ago that the jam-band Phish held its five-day millennium concert at the Big Cypress Indian Reservation, halfway between Naples and Fort Lauderdale.
The four band members drew more than 80,000 concert-goers to the Everglades, and in the process turned a 20-mile section of Alligator Alley into a virtual parking lot.
Fast forward to 2008, and once again thousands of music fans are expected to descend on the reservation, this time for the Langerado Music Festival, featuring 85 bands on five stages over four days.
But this time festival organizers, officials from the Seminole Tribe of Florida and local law enforcement, say they’re ready for the crowd, and don’t expect a repeat of the 1999 traffic tie-ups.
“In nine years the level of professionalism of the Seminole police and most departments in the tribe has increased significantly as a result of the resources they have now from gaming, including the casino in Immokalee,” Seminole spokesman Gary Bitner said. “From nine years ago to now is really like light years in terms of the evolution of the services the tribe provides.”
One reason officials are confident traffic won’t be a headache this weekend is that festival organizers are expecting only about a quarter of the turnout of the 1999 concert.
Instead of the 80,000 to 100,000 people who flooded the reservation to see Phish, about 20,000 to 25,000 people are expected per day to see the likes of the Beastie Boys and R.E.M.
“Thursday and Friday will be the heaviest traffic, but nothing that should impact Alligator Alley from either direction,” Ethan Schwartz, a representative of the festival, wrote in an e-mail.
People attending the festival from both the east and west coasts will be leaving Interstate 75 (Alligator Alley) at exit 49, the Big Cypress Indian Reservation, and heading north about 15 miles on Snake Road. There will be about six miles of roads within the reservation to stack vehicles, Schwartz wrote.
Organizers are expecting about 10,000 vehicles, most of which will arrive Thursday and Friday.
Despite the smaller crowds, law enforcement officials said they will have a significant presence at the festival and on Alligator Alley to keep concert-goers safe and to keep traffic flowing smoothly.
Bitner said the Seminole Tribe is enlisting support from the nearby Miccosukee Tribe of Indians to help police the festival.
There will be two dozen officers per shift dedicated solely to parking and churning through traffic, he said.
“It’s all about keeping the traffic moving,” Bitner said. “There is lots of room for parking, and the process has been designed to move as quickly as possible.”
The Florida Highway Patrol will have a full squad working at all times through the weekend, and will have two extra troopers on duty, FHP Lt. Lisa Hunter said.
“We’ll make sure traffic is flowing, people aren’t breaking down,” she said. “We’ll be monitoring it the whole entire time and we will have extra units out there.”
Hunter said FHP officials have met with Seminole police and Collier County sheriff’s officials in preparation for the festival.
“We’ve all got our game plans together,” she said. “We’re actually prepared for it this time.”
Still, most officials are recommending that anyone planning to travel across Alligator Alley on Thursday through Sunday plan for a longer-than-normal trip.
Motorists driving across the Alley who encounter backed-up traffic approaching the 49 mile marker should move to the left lane to keep traffic flowing, Hunter said. Anyone attending the concert should stay in the right lane, and avoid cutting into traffic and cutting across the median, she said.
“The public needs to be well-prepared that there is going to be a lot more traffic out there,” Hunter said, “especially in the area of the 50 mile marker of Alligator Alley, because there is only one way in and one way out.”
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*QUOTE*
“The public needs to be well-prepared that there is going to be a lot more traffic out there,” Hunter said, “especially in the area of the 50 mile marker of Alligator Alley, because there is only one way in and one way out.”
Not true...You can enter from the Devils Garden area S.R. 833 to Governtment Rd.(aka) Snake Rd.
If your coming from the Lake O area or Hendry Co. Immokalee, etc....Shorter and no traffic!
If you can read this than you can google map search it...
#1 Posted by JunkYardDog on March 5, 2008 at 6:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The problem with that last time, (the Phish concert) was the Seminole tribe cut off that access.
Let's hope they keep it open this time. Anyway, four lanes converging into one will always cause a backup. It's going to happen.
#2 Posted by ThirtyDF on March 5, 2008 at 11:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey JunkYardDog,
Are you even going to this festival? Have you purchased your tickets and bothered to read the directions that accompanied them? Have you even reviewed the Langerado website?
It clearly states that the only way in or out of the festival is the I-75 route. All routes to the North are closed for festival attendees and are to be used for bands, celebrities, vendors, and the local Indian tribe.
Next time do your homework before you spew your BS.
#3 Posted by RXT on March 5, 2008 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Right on!I read the insert and I know the rules.
Respect the tribe's privacy. We are their guests.
Go with the flow, no rush, we are all going to get there.
By the time I got to Woodstock we were half a million strong! Really. I was there. The road was jammed. Traffic stopped and people were just leaving their cars and walking. By that time no tix were needed the gates were down. Lucky for me, I hitched and had no problem leaving the car I rode in and I didn't have a tix either so I got lucky with the whole busted gate deal.
My fondest memory was the teepee!
Sleeping in the mud until I was awakend by Sly singing "STAND" so I did!
Rock on and everyone be safe.
#4 Posted by petsitter on March 5, 2008 at 4:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
RXT ....Shut up Punk....Lighten up francis.....Excuuuuuuze me!
#5 Posted by JunkYardDog on March 6, 2008 at 6:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm a punk? Interesting.
At least I'm a punk with my facts straight. You can attempt to defame me on every Langerado article on this website and I'll point out your inaccuracies every time.
Just get your facts right and play nice. Or crawl back to your junkyard and leave the happy folks alone.
And oh yeah, ENJOY THE FESTIVAL!!!!!
#6 Posted by RXT on March 6, 2008 at 11:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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