If you’re headed to the Oakland Coliseum Thursday morning to see the A’s play their final game in their hometown city, carpooling or public transportation are likely the way to go, officials said.
The first pitch is at 12:37 p.m. against the Texas Rangers, but the parking gates open at 8 a.m., right in the middle of the morning commute, so traffic around the East Oakland sports complex is likelier to be heavier than normal.
The game is sold out.
John Goodwin, the spokesperson for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, said Wednesday that traffic won’t be as heavy as it would be if the team were taking to the field for an evening matchup.
“It’s not going to be a traffic nightmare,’’ Goodwin said. “It will be a trickle in and probably a trickle out. Out in the parking lot, it’s going to be a party pregame and a wake postgame.”
“There will be a lot of cars, no question,” he said. “If you are going to go to the Coliseum tomorrow and you are going to be tailgating, let the party organizer plan a carpool. The other guests can come on BART.”
BART will run additional eight-car trains before and after the game and will have extra staff on the platforms helping guide crowds, a transit agency official said.
BART is expecting a large number of passengers on its trains as ridership is on an uptick following a major decline during the pandemic. On Tuesday, BART crossed the 200,000 rider mark for the first time since the pandemic began, said agency spokesperson Alicia Trost.
“Last night’s Oakland A’s game certainly helped,” Trost said in an email Wednesday. “(The) Coliseum (station) had 7,286 exits, compared to 2,300 exits on a recent day without a game.”
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A CHP spokesperson said officers will be on regular patrol before, during and after the game.
Oakland police said the department is not planning any road closures near the Coliseum before the game, however, only outbound traffic from the 66th Avenue parking lot will be allowed after the game. Traffic will be directed onto Interstate 880.
Adam Hetherwick, 23, of Oakland said he will be on a BART train early Thursday after desperately searching for parking near the Coliseum at a previous A’s game.
“At the ‘sell-the -team’ game, I saw people parked on side streets,’’ Hetherwick said. “This time we definitely learned our lesson. We are going to park in the BART lot and just walk up from there.”
Next season, the team, which made its Bay Area debut in April 1968, is scheduled to begin a three-year run at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, while they wait for a new stadium to be built in Las Vegas by spring 2028. During their time in the capital city, the club will be known as simply “The Athletics.”
