Getting to Target Field

While I was going through my emails today, I got a daily email from the Twin Cities Business Journal about a new website the Twins are putting up (the "new" site is embedded within their regular website) informing folks about transportation options to Target Field, come April.

If you are familiar with the location of Target Field, it really is in a very accessible part of downtown. There really is not an absence of routes to get there. The main issue really, is traffic management getting in, and more importantly, out of downtown after a game. Through this new website (http://www.destinationtargetfield.com), the Twins are laying out your options in black and white.

According to the article from the Business Journal(http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2010/01/11/daily49.html), Target Field will be the most "transit-friendly" ballpark in Major League Baseball. I-94 accesses the park from the east and west, as does I-394. State Highway 55 runs near the park. Then you have light rail coming from the south, and a commuter rail line coming from the north.

The big issue though, is how to get out after games. And this doesn't apply to just the 40,000 ticket holders, but perhaps commuters that might get snarled up in post-game traffic during those occasional weekday 12:10 starts. This new website is really a good move by the Twins. I am still trying to sort out how I should leave downtown after a game. I have not-so-nice visions of bumper-to-bumper traffic trying to get back on to I-94 westbound.

The Twins do suggest coming early and also staying later. They also suggest using the same mode of parking that you do now for games at the Metrodome.

That's also been a big issue for me, where should I park? I certainly would not suggest parking in the ABC Ramps right there between Target Field and Target Center. You'd have to think many of the available spaces would be reserved for season ticket holders, and whatever is left would be at a premium parking rate.

Personally, I think I'll take the Twins' advice and come early. I'm planning on attending mostly day games in the new ballpark. The lot I usually park in is probably the same distance from Target Field as it is from the Metrodome, just a different direction. I am concerned though about whether or not the lot will raise its rates. And I just hop the light rail to get the rest of the way (especially on those rainy and/or cold days). Oh, I'll just admit it, I love riding that train.

The Twins are pushing for fans to use MetroTransit once Target Field opens. Many bus routes go right by the ballpark. The Hiawatha Light Rail comes in there, as does the Northstar Commuter line. Eventually the Central Corridor light rail from Saint Paul will end at Target Field as will a proposed light rail line that will predominantly use County Road 81 that goes through Crystal, Robbinsdale, etc.

I might end up doing that myself, the bus I would take from my home in North Minneapolis to downtown, stops right in front of the ballpark. And, for a base-fare of $1.75, I can't beat that. I'll just have to try several different options out and see which works the best.