Provide explanation for Pro Bowl fiasco
The Pro Bowl has been seen as a prize for Hawaii, as well as a perk for the star NFL athletes who are tapped to come for the annual exhibition game at Aloha Stadium. It televises images of the state’s sunny climate to a national audience that typically is holed up in wintry weather, images that can only solidify the islands’ brand as a visitor destination.
Sunday’s disastrous traffic jam, however, has siphoned away much of that benefit, and certainly all of the goodwill among the disappointed fans stuck in gridlock. If the event means anything to the authorities who want to keep it here, things need to change.
For starters, the audience got a view that was anything but impressive. When the game started at 2 p.m., viewers saw thousands of empty seats in a venue accommodating 50,000. This was touted to be a sellout crowd.
Dave Reardon, Honolulu Star-Advertiser sports columnist, had no trouble finding a few representative anecdotal reports from disappointed ticket-buyers.
One came from Waipahu resident Donald Martinez, who arrived at the stadium in the morning and waited four hours for his friends. With tailgate-party food in tow, they got mired in traffic and ended up at Ford Island, essentially ditching the party plans and forfeiting $100 tickets.
He, like other Hawaii kamaaina fans, had braved crowds at professional football games on the mainland, without trouble. And many visitors who came here expressly to enjoy the game found instead they were unable to get into the at-capacity parking lot, and then unsure of how to move on to an alternative space.
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Samantha Spain, marketing spokeswoman for the Aloha Stadium, said the Stadium Authority is still consulting this week with all the involved agencies, including the NFL, the Honolulu Police Department and the state Department of Transportation.
Even the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is part of the picture. HART now controls the Kamehameha lot, Spain said: Its spaces are no longer available for stadium parking, because it’s the future site of the stadium rail stop.
The 2016 traffic jam was worse than last year’s, she added, because it was a sellout. But she acknowledged that it was known to be a sellout on the Friday afternoon before the game.
Planners — from all the agencies — should have come up with contingencies well in advance, enabling better directions to routes and detours.
The stadium could not afford this kind of gaffe at this juncture. It was only in December that Hawaii’s reputation took a hit after the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team backed out of its scheduled match there, complaining that the condition of the artificial turf was shoddy enough to be unsafe.
Now this happens, in the midst of the football league’s debate over whether to bring the Pro Bowl back here next year. The players have always favored the Hawaii location, but after this black eye, it’s unclear whether even that is true any longer.
Martinez shared his theory about the behind-closed-doors discussions among the agencies involved.
“It seems so many were running this event and no one knew what the other was doing, and they all seem afraid to admit error,” Martinez said.
The Stadium Authority, wary about Pro Bowl prospects, is “not pointing fingers on anyone,” Spain said. “We want to support our clients.”
Even so, the authority owes the public an explanation, plus a plan to avert this disaster for the next Pro Bowl — if there is one — or any other large-scale event.
Traffic management and planning present a challenge in cities nationwide. But if sports tourism is to have a future in Honolulu, those in charge have to demonstrate that the situation is in hand, not out of control.
42 responses to “Provide explanation for Pro Bowl fiasco”
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Sport tourisim must include traffic control too! Urban Honolulu can use its full capabilities.
agree but there will never be a pro bowl out here again.
Classic Hawaii gov’t ineptitude for all to see. All parties concerned wanted to ‘manage’ their own kuleana, but not be responsible for the any details, nor care about the event as a whole. While few may openly point fingers, everyone will happily take the “Don’t blame me” approach. With no one entity, office, agency, or person, being willing to stand up and take the blame, clearly this will happen again. If there is another Pro Bowl (good luck with that!). Classic local style gov’t. Everybody wants to be “in charge” and tell others what to do. But NOBODY like be responsible and be accountable for any problems. After all these years the people involved at this event have NEVER learned anything such as to avoid these fundamental problems. Traffic for a sell out crowd? How ironic that if the stadium were managed correctly to begin with, every event should be sold out and these problems would be happening all the time, right? NO! Thats the whole point. Parking and traffic at a stadium for ANY event should never be a problem. Basics.
Ditto! This fiasco not only affected those going to the game but anyone going to an eastbound destination.
How about looking at how the stadium authority processed autos, buses and pedestrians onto its site? I saw inefficient operations that backed traffic up onto the local streets. i think the source of the whole mess originated at ground zero…the stadium.
When rail is finished, thousands of patrons will be able to take a fast hassle-free ride to the stadium for events and be able to leave just as quickly. On the mainland this is routine in many cities. Last year I rode Seattle’s nice LINK light rail to Safeco Field to the Mariners game. Seahawks Stadium is also adjacent. Rail is more effective and efficient for moving large crowds than cars getting stuck in traffic.
BS
Rail will give us a better future. We shouldn’t have to keep putting up with traffic struggles wherever we go.
Uku- Same misinformation every article. Rail will result in a net increase in vehicles on the road due to the expansion of the bus fleet for feeder routes. OTA bought more buses for rail routes. This part of the reason the County had to stop saying rail will reduce traffic. Rail increases traffic because there is a net gain in vehicles on the road. Read the ridership projections again. The County expects only 10% of the rail ridership to transition from cars and other modes of transit. The other 90% is the current bus riders. In an ideal scenario where all of the foregoing is true, does the cars from the 10% of rail ridership offset the additional buses running feeder buses on surface streets. Probably not. Rail will very likely cause more traffic, even in the ideal scenario. Remember the study that showed rail will save a whooping 4 minutes off the commute due to the removal of buses from the freeway. Well, they forgot to add the time from these same (and more) buses now operate short-distance feeder routes on surface streets. Now factor in the westside UH students who previously had a dedicated express bus and other current express rider (like myself) that will drive in instead of enduring a longer and more expensive rail commute. Then rail becomes a bad idea for all commuters.
Say didn’t you post this exact thing a couple of times already? And each time, didn’t someone remind you that the rail project took over a1,000 parking spaces and contributed to this planning fiasco?
And taxing struggling families’ food, medicine, clothing, shoes, and rent and giving it to these developers and change order loving multinational corporations is bad enough, but claiming we should do it to make getting to a football game that is held once a year and may not even ever be held here again is the very depth of greed and misplaced priorities.
Which brings up the question, where do you live on the mainland and what is your connection to this mess of a rail project?
His/her connection is the monthly paychecks he/she receives to blog BS supporting the $10 Billion fraud.
Uku admitted he doesn’t live in Hawaii. So why does he care so much to post every time there’s anything involving rail? Because he’s paid with our money to shovel this sheet. Rail is taking parking from the stadium. Permanently. Expect more of these jams. Rail is taking two lanes off already crowded Kam Hwy leading to the stadium. No one wants to go on that disaster of a road, so they all jam the freeway. Rail is part of the problem here folks.
No, the “thousands of patrons” will be stuck in traffic, unable to find parking at the rail stations to catch the train to the stadium.
Uku “when rail is finished”. BS. Rail is a big part of this entire problem because the additional parking area was taken away to build a fail station.
Anybody else notice that ukuleleblues’ primary issue is protecting the rail project? I think he/she needs to disclose his/her connection to the project.
Rail has millions tied up in PR. Uku cashed in.
Rail has killed the Aloha Stadium as a place to accommodate the Pro Bowl or any UH football game with a team that is succesful. Rail has killed small business, the Aloha Stadium, has greatly decreased government services due to lack of money and will increase everyone’s taxes FOREVER.
Aren’t we thinking about getting rid of this stadium?
He, like other Hawaii kamaaina fans, had braved crowds at professional football games on the mainland, without trouble.
Hey, how many times do we have to tell ya, this ain’t the mainland?
Words cannot express fully my belief, that our government officials and who they hired are truly less than expected – yet they believe they deserve so much in pay and attention. It is so very disheartening seeing all that goes on here. the people that come here to live (transplants) and the people from here must realize that we are a very small island community, state, and funds are low. If you take a job in the public sector, like a doctor, you are doing it for the betterment of the whole, not just yourself. POLITICIANS take HEED!!!!! You too are held accountable for what you enact here in the islands.
this IS Hawaii–if you are expecting competence and are surprised at the levels of incompetence–then you haven’t been paying attention.
Don’t forget the complete lack of accountability and sense of responsibility.
After 50-60 years we should be used to it.
The loss of the 1,100 parking stalls to the fixed rail site made a difference. They should’ve really advertised the off-site parking and free shuttle services that were available. Leeward Community College parking was wide open.
I was a UH student in the hey days with Dick Tomey and Bob Wagner as head coaches I went to the stadium to tailgate and attend the games and even with 40,000 regularly attending with some sell outs (BYU), the parking wasn’t much of an issue. So what is the difference?
When I was a student, we often parked on the side of the road around the perimeter of the parking lot, which provides probably over a thousand parking stalls. Some bonehead installed curbing which effectively removed more than a thousand parking spots in the stadium. That is a HUGE contributor to the lack of parking, plus the RAIL taking away the supplemental parking due to the rail station being built.
SOS, same old stuff, not gonna change!
I’ve been to several UH games this season with the small crowds and HPD did a poor job in traffic control. They just used the lights in place and we took 1 !/2 hours from the Halawa exit to the stadium. They get paid for nothing except talking to each other. That is one of the major reasons like the presidential motorcades they need to practice traffic controls.
It’s called planning. Do some. Devise procedures to accommodate expected traffic and transportation requirements of major events. The City and State prefer to be baffled and surprised by easily anticipated situations.
Yup, total INCOMPETENCE
No thanks. Sounds like work.
HART is always part of the traffic congestion and inconveniences.
There is always inconvenience during construction. Once the project is finished, conditions are greatly improved. Rail will be successful here as in other cities. There is no logical reason why it cannot work the same way here as elsewhere.
ukuleleblue says: “Once the project is finished, conditions are greatly improved. ”
So are those 1,100 parking spots rail gobbled coming back any time soon? No.
And you’re just going to ignore the lanes on Kamehameha Hwy closed by rail construction, right?
Where were YOU the day of the pro-bowl? You were at your home on the mainland, weren’t you? It’s time you finally revealed where you live on the mainland and what your connection is to this mess of a rail project.
The Oahu rail project was based on LIES and DECEPTION and NEVER on logic or reason. That is why with 100% certainty the Oahu rail project will FAIL Oahu taxpayers and residents. That is why it is so important to Gruberize the public with constant B S propa ganda.
“There is no logical reason why it cannot work the same way here as elsewhere.” You maroon. This isn’t elsewhere, This Is Hawaii. What other place’s government would keep sending you checks for cutting and pasting for months?
Reminds me of that old “Eat Beef” ads that ran on tv: “Incompentence: it’s what’s for dinner!”
*Incompetence (spelling)
This has happened before. Traffic at big event are horrendous. Without rail, we will never have a filled stadium.
Drain Bamaged? This Pro Bowl was sold out. Without rail. Better forget about those Jackson shows and the Stones too.
NFL Transportation is in charge of the parking for the Pro Bowl. They use normal stadium pkg attendants augmented with paid volunteers from the military to direct vehicles in the parking lot. They give a big speech at the beginning of the training about how efficient their parking plan/procedures are! I worked “crowd control” outside the VIP tailgate party at Richardson Field. The cops helping direct traffic mainly just used the existing traffic lights…made no sense to me.
Everybody wants to get to the stadium in their own car. That’s why. 50,000 fans means 45,000 cars.
We pay good money to a bunch of losers that fail to plan and plan to fail. No accountability anywhere in sight. Heads should roll. No excuses.