GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — With less than a month to go before the new Acrisure Amphitheater opens, the city of Grand Rapids is unveiling its full strategy to handle the influx of visitors.
I have heard a lot of concern about parking for the new venue, a question I have been pressing the city on for months.
"It's not overly bad. Sometimes, just have to spend a few extra minutes driving around," Joe Souels said.
"Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard. It just depends on how early you get here before your show, but the closer you get to your show, the harder it's going to be to find parking," Katie Loomis said.
On Monday, Grand Rapids unveiled its strategy to handle the thousands of additional people set to visit my neighborhood.
"Within a half mile of the amphitheater, there are approximately and pretty close to 8,863 spaces available," Mobile GR Strategic Initiatives Manager Max Gilles said.
The plan, which city leaders spent years making, includes a new parking reservation system and a new free DASH bus route that hits all nine city-owned and operated ramps.
It also features a new rideshare pickup and drop-off location at the Fulton Street bridge, 300 new street signs showing people how far of a walk the venue is from their location, and new ADA parking spaces nearby.
“So from the public construction perspective, we don't have firm plans to add to the downtown parking portfolio,” Deputy City Manager Kate Berens said.
Additionally, there will be street closures near the amphitheater, including closing down US-131’s Market Street exit ramp for events.
"Even today, we can't really understand how it's going to interact perfectly. So this is going to be something where all this planning analysis is really important to build on," Gilles said.
The Rapid has 13 lines that will run across the six cities the bus line serves.
"All of our routes on event night for the amphitheater will run two hours later. So the last bus out of Rapid Central Station, which is a block from the amphitheater, will be 11:20," Rapid CEO Deborah Prato said.
In February, the city was tracking at least half a dozen of what they call "triple whammy" days.
That means there is an event at the amphitheater, Van Andel Arena, and a cultural event in downtown Grand Rapids simultaneously.
"With current peak demand and a sold-out amphitheater show, we still would have just over 800 spaces available to work with. So there is plenty of available parking within a half mile of this venue," Gilles said.
It is a venue many are looking forward to enjoying. Loomis said she is looking forward to going with her friend to see Jack Johnson.
"I’m really excited. He's a great performer. He always puts on a good show, and his music's always really entertaining. So it'll be great," Johnson said.
"Excited to see with the booming Grand Rapids area, what it's going to look like," Souels said.
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