GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Harbor Transit of Grand Haven will once again be offering a park-and-ride service for those attending the Coast Guard Festival on Aug. 7 in downtown Grand Haven.
Thousands of visitors are expected during the week of the festival from July 30 through Aug. 8, so the park-and-ride service should help alleviate traffic congestion during the festival’s busiest day, a news release said Thursday.
The service will be available from 9 a.m. until after the fireworks, with a “last call” for the shuttle to downtown at 8:45 p.m.
Festival attendees can park their vehicles at eight different locations around the Tri-Cities and be shuttled to the heart of downtown Grand Haven.
They can then return to their vehicles via the shuttle by returning to the drop site in downtown Grand Haven during the park-and-ride service hours.
Harbor Transit will not be collecting fares, though there will be a $10 cost per vehicle to park at the Harbor Island parking location.
Staffing levels aren’t where Transportation Director Scott Borg would like them to be, but he says he’s still optimistic.
“It’s all-hands-on-deck at Harbor Transit on Coast Guard Saturday,” he said. “We are going to do our absolute best to ensure that festival attendees can easily get to downtown events,” Borg said. “What’s really important for riders to know is that this year there will be a cut-off time at 8:45 p.m. to be shuttled downtown. If you are heading downtown for the fireworks in the evening, you’ll want to arrive early at the inbound pickup points.”
