ATX Detour Day declared to help alleviate traffic

The South by Southwest Conference begins and that of course means there will be a lot of visitors to Austin. In order to help alleviate some of the traffic, the city has declared today (3/9) ATX Detour Day.

It's estimated that 400,000 people come to Austin for SXSW. Many events for the conference take place downtown which is already an area for traffic nightmares on a daily basis.

The city says today is one of the biggest traffic days of the year due to the start of SXSW and students leaving (or coming) for Spring Break.

So instead of driving into work, city leaders are asking people to make other plans. Suggestions include:

  • Work from home or somewhere not in the office like a coffee shop or library
  • Work a non traditional schedule to avoid rush hour
  • Use a different form of transportation like walking, biking, carpooling or taking the bus or rail

Another thing to be aware of is extra police patrols. APD says more officers will be stationed downtown and its 120 officer special response team will be brought in even earlier this year to monitor Sixth Street.