Concert Adds to Traffic Snarl at Fairgrounds

COSTA MESA —  The city is bracing for a traffic nightmare tonight as tens of thousands of people headed for the Orange County Fair collide with Gloria Estefan fans on their way to her concert at the Pacific Amphitheatre.

Although several measures have been taken to direct traffic in and out of the fairgrounds and to reduce the number of cars going to the venues, authorities fear that Costa Mesa could face its worst traffic tie-up since a Beach Boys concert was held at the amphitheater during the 1986 fair.

The performance by pop singer Estefan is the first of three concerts scheduled for the amphitheater during the fair’s 12-day run, and she is expected to draw an almost capacity crowd to the 18,788-seat amphitheater. The concert, combined with the average Friday night fair attendance of 50,000, is enough to get some residents thinking about leaving town this time of year.

“This year it’s going to be worse,” said Geri Kienzle, who lives on Princeton Drive near the fairgrounds. “The fair is bad enough, but to have those three concerts is going to be terrible. It’s ruining the neighborhood.”

Police will close Arlington Drive between Fairview Road and Newport Boulevard to everyone except residents starting at 6 p.m, and special traffic patrols will start at 9:30 p.m. to direct vehicles from the fairgrounds to the Costa Mesa and San Diego freeways, Traffic Division Sgt. Tom Winter said.

The city has added 20 people to help out with traffic snarls on nights there is a Pacific Amphitheatre concert during the fair.

Pacific’s General Manager Susan Rosenbluth suggests that concert- and fair-goers use the park-and-ride lot at 1970 Main St. in Santa Ana, which will be open from 5:30 p.m. to midnight. For $1, people can park their cars and take a shuttle bus that leaves every 15 minutes for the venues. Tickets for the parking service can be purchased at Ticketmaster outlets in advance.

Rosenbluth also advises patrons to exit the San Diego Freeway at Harbor Boulevard or the Costa Mesa Freeway at the Del Mar Avenue-Fair Drive offramp and avoid Fairview Road.

“We’re trying to allocate traffic evenly, so everyone can get in faster,” she said.

City Manager Allan L. Roeder will ride in a police helicopter Friday night to see how well the new traffic measures avert traffic snarls. “It’s the old case of hoping for the best and expecting the worst.”

Residents near the fairgrounds complain that their streets become clogged with fair patrons who park there illegally and leave behind beer bottles and other trash. Kienzle said she has even had somebody urinate on her front lawn.

“There’s not a thing we can do about it but move,” she said, adding that she and some of her neighbors have considered that option.

Resident Karen Millar also complained about the noise caused by traffic and concerts held at the Pacific Amphitheatre. She and husband, Russ, moved into the house in 1963 when the fair was simply a “mini-turmoil” and not the event it has become. Though the amphitheater lost in court last year when neighbors upset about noise levels sued the concert venue, the Millars say the situation has not improved.

“I suppose we’ll just suffer, and not in silence, presumably. At this point, most of the neighbors are inured to this annual nightmare,” Karen Millar said.

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