Vikings, Gophers, Twins, State Fair will create busy commute Thursday

Thursday's commuters can expect lots of company as the Twins, Vikings and the University of Minnesota all have home games in Minneapolis. Add in the State Fair and you've got a recipe for extra-heavy traffic and a crunch on parking places.

Metro Transit says it expects Thursday to be the busiest service day of the year, and it is adding 20 buses to get fans to and from the games. The agency also is operating Northstar Commuter trains for both the Twins baseball game and Vikings football game in addition to extra Blue Line light-rail trains. (See details below.)

Thursday is a workday in downtown Minneapolis and for employees at the University of Minnesota. That means many spots normally available to visitors will be in use all day.

Fans heading to the 12:10 p.m. Twins-Royals game at Target Field also will snap up open spots, so those arriving for the 6 p.m. Gophers-UNLV game at TCF Bank Stadium and the Vikings-Tennessee Titans game at the Metrodome will face stiff competition for parking spots, along with having to fight rush-hour traffic.

Minneapolis operates 17 parking ramps and seven lots in the Warehouse District and throughout downtown. The largest are Ramps A, B and C near Target Field. Arrive early and be prepared to have an alternate parking lot or ramp in mind.

The city also has 7,000 on-street metered spaces. These too will be at a premium.

Be sure to read the information on the signs as metered spaces have varying time restrictions and rates. Those can change from block to block and even from one side of the street to the other.

Those without season passes can find spaces for $10 to $20 at the East River Road Garage, Oak Street Ramp, Church Street Garage and lot C-79 on the East Bank. Surface lots near TCF Bank Stadium will be open to football fans. For more information see the U's parking information page.

Because of the Gopher football game, the fair's busiest park-and-ride lots at the University of Minnesota will not be available Thursday, and no shuttle bus service from campus to the fair will be offered.

Patrons who normally use the 3,600 spots on SE. 5th and 6th Streets, 25th Avenue and the 4th Street ramp will be steered to the Unisys lot at Walnut St. and County Road B2 or the former Ford Plant at Ford Pkwy. and S. Mississippi Blvd. Extra buses will serve those lots.

The fair's transportation manager Steve Grans said those two lots have plenty of room, so fairgoers should not have any problems. Fair personnel will be at the U to direct fairgoers to other lots.

Fans who don't want to battle downtown traffic and parking hassles can use park and ride lots at 28th Avenue, Lake Street and Fort Snelling and take the Blue Line into downtown, which will work well for the Twins and Vikings games. Gopher fans can get off at the Metrodome stop and transfer to a Route 16 bus at 4th Street and Chicago Avenue to get to TCF Bank Stadium.

Northstar Commuter lines will run as normal on Thursday, with an extra trip departing from Big Lake at 10:23 a.m. to get fans to the afternoon Twins game. Return trips will leave at 3:57 p.m., 4:27 p.m., 5:27 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.

Vikings fans can catch the train to the game with the 5:06 p.m. departure from Big Lake and arrive downtown at 5:55 p.m. It's a short walk from Target Field Station to the Metrodome, or hop on the light-rail. These bus routes stop at the Metrodome: 3, 5, 7, 9, 14, 16, 22 and 94.