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If the Royals move to East Crossing, how will fans find parking? It will first download an app.
That’s according to a parking and transportation plan the team unveiled last week as part of their push for voters to approve a 40-year, 3/8-cent sales tax to help pay for a new ballpark and Arrowhead renovations.
The Royals held a press conference with Populous and Kimley-Horn, the two developers of the proposed stadium, who said parking would rely primarily on existing facilities: parking lots and surface lots.
Earlier this week, the Royals and Chiefs shared the broad outlines of a community benefits agreement, which economists told the Star was more of a press release than a legal document.
How will parking work at the new Royals Stadium?
While the parking spaces in the proposed stadium area are privately owned, the developers said they are working on a plan that would include using some of the spaces as prepaid parking areas, similar to what is available at Kauffman Stadium.
Jeff McKerrow, senior traffic engineer at Kimley-Horn, said an app similar to the Park KC app could be developed so fans could pre-purchase parking in an area before a Royals game.
Populous senior architect Sarah Dempster said the Royals will seek to negotiate prices with private landowners. She said they will also work with the city to determine how many spots they are willing to sell on event days.
“Certain lot owners may prefer to say ‘no, we’re going to keep all the site, it’s my private lot,’ and that’s certainly one approach they can take,” Dempster said. “But I know the Royals are interested in having those conversations so that their patrons are taken care of and we can guarantee a certain number of seats.”
McCrow said they are also considering establishing an integrated operations center to monitor traffic conditions downtown during games. The center will serve transportation and parking needs when the downtown and intersection hosts multiple events, such as concerts at the T-Mobile Center or the first Friday of each month.
Other developments Kimley-Horn helped plan have also used integrated operations centers, such as the Minnesota Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
“We’ve worked in other communities, we’ve developed playbooks,” McCrow said. “If we have these different events going on, we will make changes to traffic or parking management to accommodate those events and plan for future events.”
The scheme will include prepaid parking areas as well as on-street parking spaces and small car parks to protect local businesses.
How many parking spaces will fans need on match day?
McKello said the Royals will build 1,500 parking spaces for fans inside the stadium. He predicts that a typical baseball game will generate an additional 7,500 cars, which will be parked in one of 40,000 parking spaces within a 20-minute walk of the proposed ballpark location.
They plan for about 70% of fans to drive, 10% to take a tram or bus, 10% to use rideshare, and another 10% to walk, bike or scooter to the stadium.
Slides shared at the meeting showed how many seats would be needed for the planned 38,000-capacity stadium, depending on the match date.
A minimum of 8,900 venues are required for weekday matches and 8,300 for weekend matches. Based on the developers’ research, they expect 3 fans per car for weekday games and 3.2 fans per car for weekend games.
So on a given night, the Royals could use 6,800 to 7,400 parking spaces that have been built in the area, according to the presentation.
Do you have any other questions about stadium voting?
What do you need to know to make an informed decision before voting on April 2?
Your questions can help guide The Star’s ongoing coverage of Royals and Chiefs stadiums by filling out the form below or emailing kcq@kcstar.com.
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