Gasparilla transportation routes and tips to avoid traffic snarls Saturday

TAMPA — Because the Jose Gasparilla and accompanying flotilla put together to sail throughout Hillsborough Bay into Seddon Channel, county transportation officers are gearing up for the 1000’s of anticipated attendees on the 2020 Seminole Laborious Rock Gasparilla Pirate Fest round downtown.

The competition, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, will characteristic the annual pirate invasion and parade offered by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. This 12 months’s parade will characteristic 103 floats, 5 marching bands and 50 krewes. The occasion will comply with the format of earlier years.

“Saturday is an excellent complicated matrix of actions,” Darrell Stefany, president of EventFest that organizes the occasion, mentioned. “It’s a day so chockablock filled with schedules, it’s laborious to alter a lot.”

The Hillsborough Space Regional Transit Authority shall be offering free streetcar line companies from eight:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. and all day bus passes for $four.

Frank Wyszynski, senior communications and advertising specialist for the county’s bus company, mentioned the routes this 12 months are the identical as final, however patrons eager to take the streetcars ought to plan to reach early. Stations three and four in Ybor Metropolis will shut from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“The streetcars get packed fairly early, which is why we shut stations three and four as a result of streetcars are full by then,” he mentioned.

A free bus shuttle will transport friends at stations three and four to downtown from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. There may also be a free bus shuttle from the Port Authority Parking Storage close to Station 7 in Channelside to downtown. Alcohol and coolers usually are not permitted on any county autos.

Different HART routes that go downtown embody:

• From College Space: Routes 1*, 5, 6, 9, 12, 275LX, MetroRapid
• From Temple Terrace: Route 6
• From New Tampa/Wiregrass: Route 275LX
• From Brandon: Routes eight, 360LX*
• From West Tampa/Citrus Park: Route 7*
• From South Tampa: Routes 19*, 360LX*
• From Tampa Worldwide: Routes 30*, 60LX

For parade goers planning to rideshare, Captain Morgan is giving freely $20,000 in Lyft credit. Anybody who makes use of the code “CAPTAINMORGAN20” on Saturday will obtain $20 in Lyft credit.

HART routes 1, 7, eight, 14, 19, 30 and 360LX shall be detoured throughout the occasions, and Tampa Metropolis authorities launched the next schedule of street closures for the occasion:

Jan. 24:

Closing at 10 p.m.

• Bayshore Boulevard between W Gandy Boulevard and W Platt Avenue
• W Bay to Bay Boulevard between Bayshore Boulevard and S Ysabella Avenue
• Davis Island Bridge Off-Ramp onto Bayshore Boulevard

Jan. 25:

Closing at three a.m.

• Bayshore Boulevard from W Brorein Avenue to W Platt Avenue
• W Platt Avenue/Channelside Drive from S Plant Avenue to S Franklin Avenue

Closing at 5:30 a.m.

• Selmon Expressway – EB Willow Avenue Off-Ramp (Exit four)
• S Willow Ave. (southbound) from W Platt Avenue to W Swann Avenue

Closing at 7 a.m.

• S Ashley Drive between E Brorein Avenue and E Jackson Avenue
• E Brorein Avenue from S Florida Avenue to S Parker Avenue
• S Franklin Avenue between Channelside Drive and Harbour Island Bridge
• Water Avenue between S Florida Avenue and S Franklin Avenue
• E Washington Avenue between N Ashley Drive and N Tampa Avenue
• E Whiting Avenue between N Ashley Drive and N Tampa Avenue
• E Whiting Avenue (westbound) from N Florida Avenue to N Franklin Avenue

Closing at 9 a.m.

• W Kennedy (eastbound) from S Hyde Park Avenue to N Ashley Drive
• N Ashley Drive between E Cass Avenue and E Jackson Avenue
• E Jackson Avenue from N Ashley Drive to N Tampa Avenue
• E Kennedy Boulevard (westbound) from N Florida Avenue to S Plant Avenue
• E Madison Avenue between N Ashley Drive and N Tampa Avenue
• E Madison Avenue (westbound) from N Florida Avenue to N Tampa Avenue
• E Twiggs Avenue between N Ashley Drive to N Tampa Avenue
• E Twiggs Avenue (westbound) from N Florida Avenue to N Tampa Avenue
• E Zack Avenue between N Ashley Drive and N Tampa Avenue
• E Zack Avenue (westbound) from N Florida Avenue to N Tampa Avenue
• E Polk Avenue between N Ashley Drive to N Tampa Avenue
• E Polk Avenue (westbound) from N Florida Avenue to N Tampa Avenue
• E Tyler Avenue (westbound) from N Florida Avenue to N Tampa Avenue

Closing at 11 a.m.

• W Cass Avenue between N Willow Avenue and N Boulevard
• W North A Avenue between N Willow Avenue and N Newport Avenue
• W North B Avenue between N Willow Avenue and N Newport Avenue
• W Fig Avenue between N Willow Avenue and N Gilchrist Avenue
• W Carmen Avenue between N Willow Avenue and N Delaware Avenue
• N Newport Avenue between W Cass Avenue and W North A Avenue
• N Gilchrist Avenue between W Carmen Avenue and W Fig Avenue
• N Delaware Avenue between W Carmen Avenue and W Cass Avenue
• W Cass Avenue (eastbound) from N Boulevard to N Ashley Drive

Closing at 1:30 p.m.

• W Cass Avenue between N Boulevard and N Tampa Avenue
• W Tyler Avenue between N Tampa Avenue and W Cass Avenue

Closing at three p.m.

• W Bay to Bay Boulevard (eastbound) from S MacDill Avenue to S Ysabella Avenue
• W Swann Avenue (eastbound) from S MacDill Avenue to S Armenia Avenue
• W Platt Avenue at S Howard Avenue
• W Platt Avenue at S Boulevard
• S Willow Avenue between W Kennedy Blvd and W Cleveland Avenue
• S Willow Avenue (southbound) from W Cleveland Avenue to W Platt Avenue
• S Boulevard between W Kennedy Boulevard and W Cleveland Avenue
• S Boulevard (southbound) from W Cleveland Avenue to W Platt Avenue
• E Whiting Avenue between S Tampa Avenue and S Franklin Avenue

Closing at four:30 p.m.

• W Kennedy Boulevard (eastbound) at S Himes Avenue
• W Kennedy Boulevard (eastbound) at S MacDill Avenue
• W Kennedy Boulevard (eastbound) at S Howard Avenue
• W Kennedy Boulevard (eastbound) at S Willow Avenue
• W Kennedy Boulevard (eastbound) at S Boulevard

Levels alongside Riverwalk, at MacDill Park and Curtis Hixon Park, will characteristic reside music after the parade till eight p.m. for many who wish to wait out the site visitors.

The keys the pirates are searching for aren’t the one ones Stefany is taking note of. He advises friends to reach early and to be conscious of their neighbors.

“Respect who’s subsequent to you and the property round you,” he mentioned. “That’s the important thing to a profitable Gasparilla.”