Road closures and transportation options for ACL Music Festival
AUSTIN, Texas - Austin City Limits Festival is taking over Zilker Park for the first two weekends of October and the City of Austin wants to make festival goers aware of closures and transportation options to get to the event safely.
Detailed information can be found here for Weekend One and here for Weekend Two.
Officials say one of the best options is to get a ride down to Zilker Park.
Public Transportation
The official ACL shuttle will operate from Republic Square on both weekends and will offer free rides to Zilker Park and the festival. Shuttle service begins at 12 p.m. on both Fridays and at 11 a.m. on both Saturdays and Sundays. The final shuttle returns from the park at 11 p.m. each day of the festival.
Capital Metro is another option. Officials say a direct route from north or south Austin you can ride the 803 MetroRapid to Barton Springs Station and then travel west on Barton Springs Road to Zilker Park.
Routes 801 MetroRapid, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 17, 19 and 20 drop riders off within a block of the shuttle site at Republic Square downtown and will operate throughout the festival. MetroRail is not running on weekends temporarily. Get detailed information from Cap Metro here.
You can also hail a pedicab downtown on your way to ACL or hop into one as you leave. The pickup/drop-off area is on the northeast corner of Barton Springs Road and Azie Morton Road, near the festival entrance.
Bikes and Scooters
Riding a bike or renting one can be an option as well.
Officials say you can rent a B-cycle and drop it off at the B-cycle station and valet service at Barton Springs Road and Sterzing Street.
If you choose to take your own bike there will be bike parking racks to lock up personal bikes along Toomey Road. There will also be limited secondary parking areas along Azie Morton Road and along Stratford Drive. Officials remind festival goers that the Stratford Drive area is exclusively for personal bicycle parking.
Of course you can also use a scooter or another dockless bike. The designated drop-off area for that is along Toomey Road and there will be a limited seconday drop-off area along Azie Morton Road and in Veterans Park between Veterans Drive and MoPac Expressway. The Veterans Park area is exclusively for dockless bicycle and scooter drop-off.
No scooters are allowed on the trail and they are not allowed at the event entrance.
Officials say the areas described above for scooters are drop-off areas only and the units will be picked up and dispersed throughout the service area to prevent congestion and improve safety as people leave ACL. They remind people that there will not be options available at these drop-off locations at the end of the night.
Ride Share
You can also get a ride share and get picked up or dropped off at one of three zones along either Wallingwood Drive, Lee Barton Drive or Veterans Drive. There will also be a taxicab stand southeast of William Barton Drive.
Driving
If you do plan to drive in the area, please be aware that neighborhood streets near Zilker Park will be accessible to only residents and businesses so festival goers will not be able to park there. Westbound Barton Springs, Toomey and Butler roads will be closed off to vehicular traffic from 9-11 p.m. every night of the festival.
For more information about ACL you can go to their website here.