I had a meeting at 9 am this morning near 17th and N 4th. There was quite a bit of traffic on 17th going into the lots both north and south of 17th. 17th is CLOSED at the fairgrounds entrance. There are three major events at the Fairgrounds today: (1) Scott Antique Market; (2) Scrapbooking; (3) Ford rally. However much of the traffic I saw was school buses (over 40), so I'm pretty sure those buses and much of the traffic was overflow parking for the Schott and the Boys State basketball championships today (good luck to my wife's Alma Mater Northland Vikings). When we went by the lots again at 11 am the traffic had subsided but there were a lot of cars parked in the lower north lot by the State Police training facility on the paved area south of the main paved road in the Crew lot (about where they usually collect the money for parking). So I think it is fair to expect extra traffic around game time and after as folks leave the area from the other Fairgrounds events and the basketball. I would give yourselves a little extra time and be prepared to have your normal parking routine altered a bit.
No question that the scrapbooking will be well attended by the TFC supporters, making traffic flow even worse. Those crafty bastards.
