Officials Suggest Transit to Rose Bowl

Fans headed to Saturday’s Rose Bowl game were being advised to take two items: a bus and a raincoat.

Most of the Brookside Golf Course, which is turned into a giant 14,000-car parking lot on game day, will be off-limits to cars because the ground will be too soggy from this week’s rains, Rose Bowl officials said Thursday.

An estimated 8 inches of rain fell on the golf course grounds, which are adjacent to the stadium, earlier this week, and more rain was expected today.

“Some areas of the golf course are still underwater,” Darryl Dunn, general manager of Rose Bowl Operating Co., which oversees the stadium and golf course, said Thursday afternoon. “We don’t want people to get stuck. We don’t want people walking through water, and we don’t want to do severe damage to our course.”

Fans who cannot find parking will be directed to nearby streets to find space. But faced with a near sellout for the 90,000-seat stadium, Rose Bowl officials pleaded with fans to consider alternatives to driving to the game, when up to 20,000 vehicles normally are expected to descend on the Arroyo Seco.

Rose Bowl officials encouraged fans to carpool, walk and take public transportation, especially the Metro Gold Line. A park-and-ride shuttle system from Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles will be set up to transport 2,500 people.

“The need for people to take alternate modes of transportation is very important,” Dunn said.

The grounds around the Rose Bowl will only grow more saturated, as forecasters expected another storm to drop up to 2 inches of rain on the Los Angeles area today. On New Year’s Eve, the thousands of people who camp out on Colorado Boulevard in advance of the Rose Parade will probably face cold and soggy conditions, with the National Weather Service forecasting showers and temperatures dropping into the low 40s.

There should be a break between storms on New Year’s Day, in time for the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game between the University of Michigan and the University of Texas. But the weather service said showers were possible on game day.

This week’s stormy weather has already disrupted Rose Parade activities. A Rose Parade festival at the Rose Bowl was canceled for two days, and pre-parade marching band performances were moved indoors at Pasadena City College on Thursday. It has not rained on the Rose Parade since 1954. But the parade will roll down Colorado Boulevard rain or shine, officials said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it would run 22 rail cars on the Gold Line on Saturday to handle the heavy traffic of football and parade fans.

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Gold Line Train Service: Fans riding the Metro Gold Line should get off at the Memorial Park station. They should walk three blocks west to the Parsons Engineering complex at Walnut Street and Fair Oaks Avenue. From there, they will be able to take a free shuttle to the Rose Bowl.

MTA officials said passengers could park their cars at Union Station and take the Gold Line to Pasadena. The entrance to the 2,000-car garage at Union Station is located off Vignes Street.

Gold Line information is available by calling (800) 266-6883 or visiting www.mta.net.

Staples Center Park-and-Ride Shuttle: Fans can park at the Staples Center lots in downtown Los Angeles and take chartered buses to the Rose Bowl for $10. The parking lot will open at 8 a.m., and bus service to the Rose Bowl will start at 9 a.m. (Fans should plan to arrive early). Buses will begin returning immediately after the game.

The shuttle service can transport 2,500 people, Rose Bowl officials said.