Thousands Show Up Early to Beat Arena Parking Woes

Fears of traffic gridlock and parking troubles prompted thousands of fans to arrive at the Anaheim Arena up to two hours early Saturday evening before the doors opened for a concert by country music stars Clint Black and Wynonna Judd.

The number of early arrivals seemed to surprise Anaheim police, who early last week joined arena officials in urging fans to allocate more time for their concert commute, especially because adjacent Anaheim Stadium was hosting more than 20,000 fans for a California Angels baseball game.

“So far, so good,” said Capt. Pete DePaola, standing on the busy corner of Katella Avenue and Douglass Road as concert-goers streamed into the arena. “The trick was to get the early crowd off the streets because if you let things get backed, you’re dead in the water.”

Many of the early arrivals came well-prepared for a long wait, with some spreading elaborate picnics from their tailgates complete with chilled wine and fried chicken, and with country music blaring from their stereo systems.

“We know what the traffic can be like around here,” said Melinda Morgan, who arrived shortly after 6 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show. Morgan and three friends seemed more than content to pass the time sipping cocktails from the back of their Jeep Cherokee.

“I can’t believe they built something like this and have so little parking,” said Gary Spake of Orange from his prime parking place only steps from the arena front doors. “We were going to avoid any traffic, because you never know what’s going to happen on the freeways.”

Saturday night’s events at the arena and Anaheim Stadium provided the first real test for recent parking improvements since authorities began addressing the issue following opening-night traffic difficulties for the arena’s Barry Manilow concert last month.