Leaving Gilette Stadium

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muh2o

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I only post this for the fans going to Monday's show, and I didn't want this to get lost in the general thread.....be aware that the traffic out of Gillette Stadium is beyond ridiculous.

We were GA, but not in the claw as my wife is pregnant (we learned of that news a couple months after getting the tickets).....We left immediately once Moment of Surrender had ended, and there is a clear path out of the stadium to the parking lot. We got in our car, went down our lane into the "main" road out of the stadium parking lot.

It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to route 1, which is about maybe half a mile worth of driving from where we were parked. It took another 2 hours to get to route 95. Route 95 is 3 miles from the stadium.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most ridiculous traffic I have ever been in, and maybe worth mentioning I once lived in Los Angeles, in Sherman Oaks, which is where the 101 and 405 meet, widely considered one of the worst highway intersections in the World, this experience was so far past 100 I can't even put it into words. I asked one of the security guards in the parking lot if it was like this for football games, and he replied "this is worse.....route 1 is dead".

Fantastic show, but I will never again visit this stadium.
 
Oh my god, it truly was THE WORST traffic I've ever been in my life! I did stay for the whole show and sat in that RIDICULOUS traffic for FOUR HOURS. No kidding! I live (what SHOULD be) a half hour away from Gillette and got home at 3:30 am this morning. I'm going again tonight and should be EXCITED, but instead I'm dreading that traffic. I almost started crying from frustration last night and can't imagine feeling any different tonight. Are there any OTHER options that anyone would suggest?!!! Back roads, parking at other lots, etc.?
 
It really was pretty sick. I didn't even start my car until like 12:30am and then it took me probably another 45 minutes to get out of the lot. I actually feel lucky that as soon as I got out of the lot I turned on my GPS and it said to make a right off of route 1 and then it probably took me another 15 minutes to get back to the hotel. I feel lucky to say it only took me 2 1/2 hours after the show ended to go about 5 miles. :huh: :wink:
 
I have seen other venues like this (basically in the sticks with a limited number of ways out).

We were some of the last folks out of the stadium, and had a pretty good parking spot, but it still took us close to 1 1/2 hours to get to the road (headed towards 495). To add to the issue, a car overheated in front of us and had to be pushed off into one of the exit lanes (further congesting things).

We got back to Logan Airport at 2am.
 
We went out to eat, showered and went to bed. We looked out our window and saw the traffic mess, it was a disaster! A sea of red lights and flashing blue. So sorry you guys had to sit through that.

I bet we will have the same issues leaving Giants this week.
 
The thing with Giants Stadium is, there's a couple exits....

But yeah, I hope that the traffic at Giants isn't a 3 hour wait like Gillette....Just make sure you park next to an exit outway....That's what I always do.
 
Relaying my experience- parked in lot 11- figured to get back to 495 it would be easier to park on that side of the road. After the show made it back to the car easily, and began to leave and stopped dead for almost 45 minutes with little/no movement. At one point I noticed a lot of cars turning around and heading down to the other end of lot 11- a side exit had been opened with its own lane merging into the main exit lane and made it on to rt 1 within a couple minutes of that- I felt bad for those who didn't have room to turn around and head for that side exit.
 
I only post this for the fans going to Monday's show, and I didn't want this to get lost in the general thread.....be aware that the traffic out of Gillette Stadium is beyond ridiculous.

We were GA, but not in the claw as my wife is pregnant (we learned of that news a couple months after getting the tickets).....We left immediately once Moment of Surrender had ended, and there is a clear path out of the stadium to the parking lot. We got in our car, went down our lane into the "main" road out of the stadium parking lot.

It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to route 1, which is about maybe half a mile worth of driving from where we were parked. It took another 2 hours to get to route 95. Route 95 is 3 miles from the stadium.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most ridiculous traffic I have ever been in, and maybe worth mentioning I once lived in Los Angeles, in Sherman Oaks, which is where the 101 and 405 meet, widely considered one of the worst highway intersections in the World, this experience was so far past 100 I can't even put it into words. I asked one of the security guards in the parking lot if it was like this for football games, and he replied "this is worse.....route 1 is dead".

Fantastic show, but I will never again visit this stadium.

Our experience was exactly the same. We actually had a pretty quick walk to where we were parked and under normal circumstances we would have been out and onto Route 1 in less than 5 minutes. It took us an hour last night, and like you, another 2½ to get to 95. Ridiculous. I will never go to another Gillette concert unless I stay at the Renaissance Hotel.
 
Our experience was exactly the same. We actually had a pretty quick walk to where we were parked and under normal circumstances we would have been out and onto Route 1 in less than 5 minutes. It took us an hour last night, and like you, another 2½ to get to 95. Ridiculous. I will never go to another Gillette concert unless I stay at the Renaissance Hotel.

just wondering but is it the same for Patriots games?
 
It's the same for any big event down at Gillette and it is worse now that the Patriot Place Mall is open. The only thing you can do to offset this is to park at an exterior lot away from the stadium. I park about a half mile away and walk. Some of these smaller lots allow quicker access to Route 1. It's far from a perfect solution but it is an improvement.
 
Sadly, we had the same experience. What should've been a quick exit due to where we parked and how quickly we got back to the car, actually took just about 2 hours. Then we had to drive another 2 1/2 - 3 hours home. Walked in the door at 4:35 a.m. and left the house at 6:50 to drive Sarah to school (12th grade). :sad: Poor Sarah- the teachers all took one look at her and told her to go home! I let David skip (9th grade), and my husband never does this, but he just had to call in a little late to work because there was no way he'd be able to leave the house at 6:30 a.m. and work a 10-12 hour day! :|
 
We didn't get back to our hotel in Norwood until 1:50am.....it was like 6 miles from the stadium--and they had 6 lanes of traffic going north. I feel bad for anyone doing a second night of GA after getting back so late!
 
Lauramullen and I left the parking lot close to 1am, and it was jam-packed. We found another way and turned right instead of left coming out of the lot right in front of the GA gate/CBS scene. Somehow through the winding roads of Patriot Place Circle, we stumbled upon the exit to Route 1 South. Probably saved us a good hour than going left at that gate. Traffic was not moving at all at those intersections!!

I love everything about the Gillette stadium except for the fact that they obviously did not think about the infrastructure when building it. It has a capacity of 68,000+ but there is no public transportation line, and the major and ONLY road out of the stadium is a 2-lane highway??? :no:
 
I just talked to my friend who tonight to the show it took him over 3 hrs to get home.
 
Took me an hour to get there Sunday early (left home at 1:30) with very little traffic-same time it would normally take me w/ not much traffic

Got home Monday, almost 3 AM

That place is a complete joke. I think the new traffic pattern they've designed ( I read about that somewhere) might be part of the problem. I would never be in any hurry to go there again, even for U2. There was actually traffic coming out of the movie theater there-who would go to the movies there on the night of a game or a concert? :doh:

The Krafts are laughing all the way to the bank, and as long as people are willing to put up with it (and pay at least $40 for the privilege) they have no incentive to do anything. Of course they do have to appease the local residents as well.
 
Does anyone know or have any info/experience on how it is leaving Giants' Stadium after a big event? Is it similar to the nightmare that was Gillette?
 
Was at my house in Marshfield at 12:05.
Never, ever park in a stadium lot.
Both nights I parked in the same lot, almost directly across from the entrance to Patriot Place. Small lot at an apparently vacant office building. Took 30 seconds to get to route 1 after starting the car. Forced to head south on Rt 1, took maybe 10 minutes to 495S then to 95N, and breezed home. Also a little jogging to the car can save a lot of time later...look at it as a concert and a workout all in one night. I do the same thing at Great Woods(Comcast Center), jog to the car, get ahead of the majority of the crowd and save an hour or more.
 
Well I was with someone who has a medical problem and a handicapped placard-so we parked right across from the Fidelity/EMC in the front row. She could never walk all that way and I would never ask her to.

We probably had as good a parking spot as Brady or Belichick but that was part of the trade off. I still don't think it should take that long to get out of there if you park in the Gillette lots-especially when you're paying that much. It's too big of a place w/ far too few exits. I get that this is part and parcel of stadiums but it is also part of the deal that perhaps exits cut into how many spaces you can have and how much money you can make. Just like paying for public transportation does. They have to pay for that train so they only pay for it for games-that's my understanding. The Route 1 problem is a complete fiasco..it wasn't just actually getting out of the lot. They force you to go in one direction only and you get stuck. And somehow we had to go 1 to 95 because we couldn't get to the 495 exit because of the stadium problems.

I hate stadiums and I hate that place-have only been there for one Bruce concert and we got lost just trying to find the car. I can't imagine going out there for games every week-let along one game.
 
well it sounds like it wasn't as bad for me as some of you Sunday night, but last night still sucked. took an hour and a half for us to get to 495. totally absurd. I was unimpressed with gillette stadium in general. :down:
 
Well I was with someone who has a medical problem and a handicapped placard-so we parked right across from the Fidelity/EMC in the front row. She could never walk all that way and I would never ask her to.

.
Obviously those circumstances force your hand. That being said, you'd think HC parking would get some priority in exiting the lot.

But that place is awful traffic wise, always has been even in the days of the old stadium. As my friend and I were planning our trip down Sunday I said our most important thing was our "exit strategy" as I wake up at 5AM for work (though I did oversleep till 5:30 today, oops) and sitting in the lot/on Rte 1 till 2AM was just not an option.
Luckily we picked a very good lot Sunday and I headed right to the same one Monday.
 
Well I wasn't there to kiss Belichick's rings-but I might have kissed his butt in order to get some sort of priority exit.

I don't even remember the old stadium. I saw Pop Mart there but it was so long ago I can't remember what it was like. I got my nosebleed upgraded to floor seats by a U2 person so that made up for it. I've never even been to a Pats game and I'm so soured on that place now that I don't think I'd even want to go out there for Patriots Place unless Tedy Bruschi gave me a personal tour.
 
Relaying my experience- parked in lot 11- figured to get back to 495 it would be easier to park on that side of the road. After the show made it back to the car easily, and began to leave and stopped dead for almost 45 minutes with little/no movement. At one point I noticed a lot of cars turning around and heading down to the other end of lot 11- a side exit had been opened with its own lane merging into the main exit lane and made it on to rt 1 within a couple minutes of that- I felt bad for those who didn't have room to turn around and head for that side exit.
I was also in lot 11 Sunday night. We were one of the first cars in the lot at 3:30 and got directed in, then back around towards the road again. We thought we'd be screwed getting out, but when we got to the car, we saw that side exit had been opened 10 cars from us-so from that lot to Rt. 495 was 25 minutes. We were very lucky.
Not so lucky last night. got there at 11 am for GA, so was at the back of the lot near Showcase live. Everyone was going left out to Rt 1 north, but the car in front of me asked if he could go right, where a sign pointed to rt 1 south. The traffic guy said to go ahead, so i went too. Still sat in traffic for an hour on that back road around the stadium. i started my car at 11:15pm and for home at 1:25am. That's including the normal 40 minutes for travel, so an hour and a half wasn't as bad as some people taking 3 hours.
They have no incentive to create some sort of public transit option-why would they when they can charge $40/car?
 
Well I wasn't there to kiss Belichick's rings-but I might have kissed his butt in order to get some sort of priority exit.

I don't even remember the old stadium. I saw Pop Mart there but it was so long ago I can't remember what it was like. I got my nosebleed upgraded to floor seats by a U2 person so that made up for it. I've never even been to a Pats game and I'm so soured on that place now that I don't think I'd even want to go out there for Patriots Place unless Tedy Bruschi gave me a personal tour.
The old place was actually worse at times to get to and from. Believe it or not, when they built Gillettte they improved access roads etc. Plus the lots are paved, at the old place most of the lots were dirt. The problem is much more Route 1 than the parking lots...its just too narrow to handle the influx on event day, that bottlenecks everything, and those lots just won't move as a result, thats why I opt for a small off property lot, even if it means walking ( have parked about a mile away for the Pats in the past at what is now Stone Forge restaurant where some Interferons had a mett up Saturday, used to be Funway Cafe...15 minutes walking would save an hour or more in the car.)
Its a suck situation all in all. I was hoping they would keep doing arenas in the US like last 2 tours.
 
Night and Day

I will never ever go to that hole again.
I've seen U2 in many cities, but had yet to see them in Boston until this tour. Being from Philly, I was psyched to see them in one of their 'favorite cities'. The show was great, but Kraft ruined the experience.
First off, $40 for a gravel stadium lot? Are you kidding me? Then, no beer sales after 9PM? wha? Finally, the parking/traffic nightmare.
We left right at the end of 'Moment of surrender" and after getting screamed at by a mounted state police jack-booted thug who brandished his horse like a weapon fo crossing a street jammed with cars not moving for MILES, we got in the car to leave. At least the hour and a half that we didn't budge through the lot wasn't totally wasted--we saw a couple clearly having sex in their SUV (white highlander?) titties all out and everything-nice. Then, after having a parking attendant try to block my progress out of the lot to let in some girls whos number he had just failed to get using a pen MY WIFE LENT HIM we sat on the ONE ROAD OUT for anothr two hours or so. We got back to brookline at 2:30 AM. That's fucked!
Why $40 for parking? Why not $100 Seriously. What number would make you say NO. You'll have to move cars cause I want out. I won't pay. How much? $50 $75
Insane!
This parking lot experience put a damper on our whole vacation to Boston. While the city was great and the people friendlier then anywhere i'd been before, this was tough to swallow. Build a road Kraft! Run a train. Something.
Its hard to believe that a place that has such great public transport can get this so wrong. Do people just accept this for pats games? If so you're all drinking the kool-aid. It doesn't have to be like this.
Plus, i never got that pen back.
 
It took us 2 hours to get out of the parking lot, 50 minutes to go 3 miles on route 1. And we walked out before the end of Moment of Surrender. Even for U2, I don't know if I could bear to go back there. The show itself of course was incredible!
 
I didn't get home until about 1am on Sunday night, but Monday night it was close to midnight so it was a little better in Foxboro.

In Chicago though the first night I didn't get back to my hotel until 1:30 and I was only about 4 miles away from Soldier Field. The second night was a lot better...closer to midnight.

Wembley Stadium both nights I was able to walk right down, find my car service and get back to Central London in under 25 minutes...apparently the Brits are more orgnized?!
:applaud::applaud::applaud:
 
Gillette was a great stadium other than that clusterfuck in the parking lot getting out
 
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