ACL is here...and so is the traffic

On Friday morning, the first courtesy shuttle to ACL Fest departed from Republic Square Park downtown.
   
These are folks that just don't want to deal with the traffic and parking.

"It's an easier way to get to the park.  There's some parking around here and I don't want to get anywhere near Zilker Park right now," said Sam Treadgold.

Rollingwood Police Chief Dayne Pryor says they used to allow people to park in the streets.

"What you ended up with was thousands of cars on the streets.  People walking through yards because they can't find their cars and it was a mess, we were having vandalism, we were having break-ins," Pryor said.

Pryor says now Rollingwood is "permit-parking-only."  He says the people who actually live there know what to expect.

"The residents at Rollingwood, they're used to this.  This has been going on so long they know that for the next 2 weekends they stay out of this area, they know how to get around it," he said.

Every year Pryor's officers man a drop-off point at Rollingwood Drive and Vale Street.

"This is a pedestrian pick-up and drop-off point.  This way people can get a ride, get dropped off here, they're close to the festival and have a safe way to walk in and a safe way to get picked up," Pryor said.

For those poor souls in traffic who are not going to ACL, they're just trying to get around it, Pryor says to keep up with the road closures and don't just rely on the GPS because it may not realize which roads are closed and when.

"Check ahead of time and know that it's just going to be very difficult to get anywhere around Zilker Park right now.  If you don't have to be there, don't go," Pryor said.

For a detailed road closure map from the City of Austin, click here.