How will you get to the Eagles concert?
Special concert bus pass, online carpooling program and bike zone among new components of transportation plan
It may be the most complex if not most stressful part of attending the Magnetic Hill summer concert series: actually getting to and from the concert site.
In nine days, the experience will bookend a whole day spent waiting for The Eagles to perform.
At least 40,000 people will be heading to the hill at roughly the same time to stake out ground on the sloped field.
Concert organizers with the City of Moncton are pulling out all the stops to ensure people have plenty of options to get concertgoers to and from the concert site as quickly and efficiently as possible, not to mention spare some traffic headaches for those not attending the show.
Another thing on the mind of organizers this year: the impact all this travelling might have on the environment.
"We're really making an effort to reduce our carbon emissions," said Jillian Somers, co-ordinator of tourism and events marketing for the City of Moncton.
Part of this green strategy includes the introduction of Pick-up Pal -- an online carpool service (which can be accessed through the city's concert website at www.magnetichillmusicfestival.ca) where drivers going to the concert can connect with other people who are looking for a ride. "It allows us to connect people who may otherwise be out of luck on transportation options," said Somers.
People who sign up for the program will be e-mailed a special pass to print out and place on their vehicle's dashboard allowing them to get through police check points and security officials. After that, drivers will be required to pay $10 (in cash) to enter their VIP parking site, right next to concert's main gate. About 500 parking spots are available on this site.
"We haven't reached that cap yet," said Somers. "There are a number of people signed up who are yet to be matched so it's kind of a moving target."
In addition to carpooling, people have also been encouraged to ride their bikes to the concert site this year. An area will be set up where bikes can be locked and left during the concert. Security will be at the bike site all day but bikers have been asked to supply their own individual locks for further security.
As well, one of the most popular ways to get to and from the concert site will be back this summer. Codiac Transit will provide a concert shuttle service to and from Magnetic Hill.
However, a new change this year requires riders using Codiac Transit to purchase a special concert bus pass. The pass will also be good for a return ticket. The special bus pass can be purchased the day of the concert but the City is encouraging people to buy it now at Greater Moncton Shoppers Drug Mart locations for $7.50.
"If they buy that in advance they'll avoid a second line up," said Codiac Transit's Angela Allain. "They are going to be enough lineups at the venue itself."
People using Codiac Transit to get to the concert site need to present their special concert bus pass and tell the driver they're going to concert site. Public transit will follow Saturday's regular schedule on the day of the concert. While getting on any Codiac Transit bus will link passengers to the concert shuttle service eventually, passengers going specifically to the concert site have been encouraged to board the bus at stops on either Main Street or Mountain Road. The bus driver will see that passengers are taken to the spot on Mountain Road where they'll connect to buses going directly to Magnetic Hill.
While the regular transit schedule will be followed on the day of the concert and extra buses will be on the road, Allain said delays should be anticipated by all commuters. Also of note, Saturday night's regular Codiac Transit service will end an hour earlier at 9 p.m. so buses can head to Magnetic Hill and prepare for the deluge of people who'll be boarding the bus when the concert is over.
Allain added that as soon as the concert is over, people can begin getting on the buses in the same location they were dropped off earlier in the day. Allain said the buses will then take passengers as close to their neighborhoods as possible. Codiac Transit will continue picking up concert passengers for as long as people are on the Magnetic Hill site, possibly as late at 1:30 a.m.
Taxi cabs will also be waiting to take people home after the concert. The city said cabs will be waiting on Ensley Drive (across from McDonalds) after The Eagles leave the stage.
To ensure main roads are kept open for emergency vehicles and residential traffic, Codiac RCMP will also be controlling access to roads surrounding the concert site's perimeter. Police check spots will be set up on Mountain Road at the entrance of the Magnetic Hill tourism site, the Mountain Road and Front Mountain Road intersection, the Gorge Road and Front Mountain Road intersection and where the Trans-Canada Highway off ramp meets Gorge Road.
"We'll probably take control of the highways between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m," said Codiac RCMP Constable Bryan Butler, who added police check points would last all day until the concert was over.
Any vehicle parked illegally inside these controlled traffic zones will be towed away at the owner's expense.
Residents of Front Mountain Road, Gorge Road or the Mountain Woods subdivision will be able to leave their homes and come and go as they please on Aug. 2. However these residents have been warned to expect some delays at the police check spots.
Individuals who'll be entering the concert site through entrance gates other than the main gate (concert staff, those using disability parking) have been asked to have identification ready in order to pass through the police checks.
As for other business happening around the concert site area on Aug. 2, Magic Mountain Water Park will keep their gates open throughout the day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Magnetic Hill Zoo will be closed for the concert.
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