Local

Braves To Push Back Game Time At New Cobb Stadium

August 3rd, 2016

To combat traffic concerns, the Atlanta Braves will move the start times of games on weeknights back about half an hour to 7:30 p.m. once the team moves to the new stadium in Cobb County, team officials announced Wednesday.

Rob Ross, a civil engineer who studies traffic for the team, says there will be less congestion at the new time.

“So it’s a significant drop from rush hour to that time just before the first pitch when a lot of people are going to be coming to the game,” Ross said.

The announcement came as the team unveiled part one of its three-part transportation plan Wednesday. Other traffic solutions include creating 14 access points for drivers to the stadium, having parking decks around it and designating ride-hailing pickup locations.

The team also said it’s coming up with a smartphone app that will help navigate fans to their parking spots.

But there still have been concerns about part of the plan to divert fans off of Interstate-285 onto surface streets to get to the new stadium. A spokesperson for the city of Sandy Springs, which would be affected, said the city is working with Cobb County and the Braves to come up with a solution.

“We’re very sensitive of understanding the communities and the residents. We do that today at Turner Field,” said Mike Plant, president of development for the team.

The team said that despite dealing with traffic concerns, the majority of their fans will have shorter commutes to the game overall because most of their fans live or work closer to the new stadium in Cobb County.

“The easiest way to sort of explain our decision to relocate here is that we’re moving closer to our fan base,” said Derek Schiller, Braves president of business.