Locking into the Grid

It’s another 6 p.m. weeknight with cars moving bumper-to-bumper on the Harbor Freeway through downtown--a sight that makes most Angelenos cringe. “People are used to this,” says Don Berges, watching from a high-rise office building. “Just the perception of people, ‘I’m not going downtown.’ ” Berges’ job, as a Staples Center project manager, is to persuade them otherwise. He hopes the mean city streets can be turned to an advantage, even during those dreaded evening commuting hours.

The idea is to coax people into using alternate routes:

--From the San Fernando Valley or Pasadena, take the 9th Street exit off the Harbor Freeway (I-110) and take Francisco Street to Olympic Boulevard.

--From the Westside, avoid the freeway altogether. Take Wilshire or Pico boulevards.

--From the San Gabriel Valley, take the Los Angeles Street exit off the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10). Go straight on 17th Street, right on Olive Street and left on 11th Street.

--From Long Beach or the South Bay, take the Adams Boulevard exit off the Harbor Freeway, drive one block west and turn north on Figueroa Street.

Alternate routes will be broadcast on an advisory radio station at HAR-AM (1630) and flashed across electronic message boards on freeways and surface streets. Traffic-control officers near the arena will direct people away from the Staples Center, where there is little parking, toward other lots.

Yes, in the land of valet, where close only counts when you’re parking, the Staples Center has done the unthinkable: scattered parking in a four-block radius. Planners insist it’s an advantage for fans. “There is better traffic flow because we’re using so many streets.” says parking director Larry Isrow. Those streets, dozens of them with more than 40 entrances to 22 lots, are supposed to prevent long lines of cars. Parking rates range from $8 to $15, depending on proximity, with most spaces closer than a five-minute walk and none farther than eight minutes, planners say.

That’s fine, except that this is L.A. Does anybody walk? Tony Vitrano, an Orlando-based sports venue consultant, says: “When they see how easy it is to walk in and get out once the event is over, they will probably like it.”