The City of El Paso published a traffic study for the El Paso ball park in November of 2012.
As we learned in Planned Failure the anticipated traffic situation around the ball park was not pretty.
Letter grades of A-F (A being the best) were given to intersections around the ball park for the time periods relating to a baseball event. Some intersections received an “F” or a “D”. These grades were based on a baseball game without a concurrent event at the Civic Center. The predicted results with a simultaneous event at the Civic Center and the baseball park were even worse.
The report did not address the potential results if the Plaza Theatre had an event at the same time.
Don’t give me bad news
The city had another study done. This one (Downtown Triple-A Ballpark Circulation Study) was published in February of 2014.
In the report’s conclusions they wrote “Traffic conditions for this scenario, based on the capacity analysis, will have minimal impact to the Downtown street network”. The scenario referred to was where there was a baseball game with no other downtown events.
That’s better
Who says the city can’t make things better?
There will be a cost however. The report recommends deploying and removing portable changeable message signs for each game, changing traffic signal timing, and deploying police officers to manage traffic.
How many police officers? Quoting from the report, “eighteen (18) EPPD officers in marked units are recommended for vehicular and pedestrian assistance”. Don’t worry about public safety. The report only recommends that the officers be used two hours before the games and one hour after the game. They recommend that during the game “Police Officers to return to duties as assigned”.
I did not see anything about public service announcements asking criminals to suspend operations during those periods.
Who pays?
The contract with the sports group requires the city to provide traffic control at no cost to the sports group.
An item on the city web site shows the charge to have 11 officers and their vehicles assigned to a parade for 1.5 hours at $511.08.
That works out to about $31 per hour per officer. That number seems low to me. Maybe we should start using them as taxis.
If the ball park schedule requires 3.5 hours per officer the total for 18 officers would be $1,953 dollars.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Brutus, you obvious need to calm down and have a Joyce Wilson Chili Cheese Dawg (extra onions please!) at the City Hall Grill. ($35) Chase it down with a nice cold Woody Brew (Sponsored by Coors, the official beer of Southwestern University Stadium) ($15). Once you are sitting along the 3rd base line (3rd base sponsored by Hunt Industries) looking out at the beautiful center field wall (Sponsored by the El Paso Times) where once a science museum sat, you will understand what a wise decision our city fathers had made.
(This message sponsored by the El Paso “Just try to find a parking spot” Chihuahuas. )
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AND. . . . audience numbers cannot be predicted. So, after the initial “Lets SEE IT. . . . ” wears off and people get really really tired of driving downtown ( 10 miles from most any spot in town that has any REAL income at all (far east and far west side) and tired of sitting thru a slow moving baseball game, and only 1250 people show up, the Police will still need to be scheduled in advance and cost the same as a full sold out house.
Police and traffic control cost would be the same cost with a few hundred showing up . . . . or 7000.
From talking with people about EVEN going downtown, leaves me with the impression that at some games, attendance will be less than 1000, no matter WHAT the average WAS at Cohen stadium or other stadiums around the country. I dont think any other AAA stadiums are smack Downtown with just horrible parking to begin with. From what I see in satellite photos, they all have a ring of parking right around the stadium or right there, right in front of the place.
And unless you work downtown, 99% of everyone else just hates the place and hates going there. Couldnt possibly be in a worse place.
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I did work downtown. 6 years total. it is a dump and I couldn’t stand it. Glad to be home now on west side. They can have their Woody World.
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Now the giant Lighted Scoreboard would be an easy target from Mexico which is ___?____ feet away. Bullets FROM Mexico have reached that exact destination or location in the past.
But, now, a GIANT LIGHTED TARGET. Facing Mexico.
Oh well.
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Downtown is smack – dead center. . . in the middle of a slum on all sides. Would you like to buy some extra hub caps and radio for your car right now, so you can get ready for games?
Ive had 2 cars stollen in downtown.
3 other cars broken into and contents removed.
Trunk popped open when parking downtown at a PAID METER during the DAY. During the DAY. During the DAY !
And spare tire, tool box and jacket. . . . . gone, during nigh noon, bright daylight.
So, not just PARKING and traffic control for the police but several thousand NEW victims. . . just sitting there and EVERYONE KNOWS . . . WHEN the game will be over, so the vehicles will be sitting there for exactly __?____ hours.
Police will have triple their hands full when all the calls start coming in at the end of the games.
It in the middle of a SLUM. What do you expect?
Thousands of people with almost no income living a few blocks from all parking downtown. The temptation will be SO GREAT.
So great, that normally honest people might think about all the free stuff in cars that are not going to move for several hours.
Oh well.
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Pick pockets are starting to come to El Paso from the BIG CITIES. Had a watch taken right off my arm in a bar downtown. Didnt know it for 2-3 minutes. Nobody saw. . . . NOTHING.
So, no thank you to Stepping into the Spiders Web of “downtown.”
any more.
Oh well.
(Each Police report takes over an hour for ONE incident.)
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So, when does the RENT from Mountainstar start?
The Baseball team is already playing in other places.
So, the RENT does not start when the Team starts?
The Baseball Team could play dozens of games outside of town and El Paso gets nothing? No parking revenues from THOSE games?
When does the RENT start?
I’d like to see a copy of EACH CHECK Mountainstar gives to the city.
The City will have upfront costs with Police and already traffic control from all the construction.
As MY landlord use to say . . . “WHERE’s the RENT?”
(in a New York accent)
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Every day the Little Dogs stay out of town saves us the policing and parking costs.
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Forget the Downtown Parking..what about all the traffic on I-10 ???
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That’s right.
3 Exits going into downtown
and 1 or 2 coming out of downtown.
(the 2nd you’d have to go up to Yandell to go I-10 west bound)
Plaza theater or Chavez theatre only holds 2000+ something people, so 5000 or 7000 NEW people= 2500-3500 cars !
What a Freaking mess.
Those people that seem to get hit crossing the street on North Mesa at Cincinnati street every week, ( it seems ), better hurry their drunk ass across the street during baseball season.
ZooooooooooooooooooooooooooooMMMMMM.
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The TV stations should put camera around downtown BEFORE the game, showing people driving around the block, and around the block, and around the block. . . looking for parking !
And then, AFTER the game with 3000-4000 cars lined up to get on I-10 !
HA !
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