Unfair blocking?

The sea of cars that flooded the Sports Complex on Sunday created a traffic planner’s nightmare. Five events were held at three of the complex’s arenas, bringing more than 90,000 spectators to the area over the course of eight hours.

That made the area more susceptible to the usual problems — insufficient spaces at the venues and uninvited guests parking in the surrounding neighborhoods.

However, the day gave city officials and civic leaders a chance to assess how much progress they’ve made in addressing residents’ complaints, and how far they still have to go before everyone is satisfied.

Some neighbors who have continuing grievances with the traffic control staged a protest at 10th and Oregon during the stadium events — an Eagles game, three performances of Disney on Ice and a Halloween haunted house.

"All things considered, I think we came out [of Sunday] pretty well," said First District Councilman Frank DiCicco. "Some of the different traffic patterns the police have been working on really made an impact, but it’s obvious this is still a work in progress."

Several hundred new parking spots were made available Sunday at the former site of Veterans Stadium, where cleanup crews are once again working with an extended deadline.

The Phillies had announced in August that work at the site would be finished by mid-November, meaning 5,500 new parking spaces would be freed up for the final four Eagles home games.

Now, that date is being pushed back to the second week of December, said Shawn Jalosinski, executive director of the Sports Complex Special Services District.

"I’m disappointed that things aren’t further along right now," Jalosinski said. "They have been making progress — the pavement on the north side of Pattison was just finished — but the reality is we’re looking at an extra month before that lot’s finished."

News of the delay came just as the Eagles began exploring an alternative site for fan parking: the Navy Yard.

Both the Phillies and the Eagles had long been reluctant to make use of the "S Lot" in the Navy Yard, which can accommodate up to 1,000 cars, because it requires shuttling fans back and forth.

However, the team made partial use of the lot on Sunday and will use it in full at the remaining home games, Jalosinski said.

Eagles employees also will park in the Navy Yard lot on game days, opening up a couple hundred extra spots at the team’s training facility at Broad Street and Pattison Avenue.

The Eagles are working with the city to eliminate the ritual wasting of parking spaces in Lincoln Financial Field before and during games due to tailgating.

When the team reached its original agreement with the city to keep its new stadium in South Philly, both sides agreed that specific areas should have been designated for tailgating.

"We’ve since found out that many fans take up extra parking spaces each week with their barbecues and beach chairs and don’t even actually go to the game," DiCicco said.

The councilman estimated that 300 to 500 spots are wasted each week due to tailgaters.

One of the proposed solutions would have the Eagles implement a screening process through which fans would have to produce tickets before being allowed to park in the lot.

"We understand that tailgating is an important part of the atmosphere at the games, but I think you also want to make sure that people are actually parking in those spaces because they’re going to the game," DiCicco said.

While the city and the sports teams continue to brainstorm, many fans continue to turn to FDR Park to meet their game-day parking needs.

The Lakes’ proximity to the Linc makes the area a hit with arena spectators — even though the parking fee has doubled to $20 — but some residents say they are tired of the park being overrun with cars and careless fans.

Mary Jo Carrozza had enjoyed making weekly trips to the park with her sister and their dog for the past 10 years, but has come to disdain the state of The Lakes on game days.

"The cars completely obliterate the jogging lanes, and the fans leave trash all over the place, even though there’s trashcans everywhere you turn," she said. "The city put Port-O-Potties down there too, but we still see grown men peeing on trees. It’s disgusting."

The resident of the 1700 block of South 13th Street pines for a police presence at the park on game days to keep fans in line. She also resents being squeezed out of FDR by parking attendants who she said harassed her.

"We were trying to get into The Lakes with a dog in our car. We obviously weren’t going to any game," Carrozza said. "Yet these attendants insisted that we pay $20 to park. I thought that was ridiculous — it’s a city park. It’s supposed to be free!"

Tony Greco, president of the South Philadelphia Communities Civic Association, agreed with Carrozza’s assertions.

"I’ve voiced my opinion before that FDR Park should be used for recreation, not for stadium parking," he said. "We shouldn’t be charging people if they want to go into a public park."

DiCicco, however, said converting The Lakes into a makeshift parking lot has its benefits.

"The money that they charge goes to the Fairmount Park Commission, and some of that goes directly to improving the park," he said. "In that sense, it’s a positive for the community. But you definitely can’t cut the public off from the park."

A segment of the public expressed frustrations over stadium-induced parking nightmares during a small protest Sunday at 10th Street and Oregon Avenue.

Many of the 30-plus demonstrators demanded parking permits and the right to park south of Oregon Avenue on Sundays.

When the Sports Complex Special Services District was created, its boundaries extended from I-95 South to the south side of Oregon Avenue and from Seventh to 20th streets.

"The [south side] seemed like a logical cut-off point when we drew up these boundaries," Greco explained. "No one thought the fans would really park that far away and walk to a game."

As a result of being left out of the Sports Complex boundaries, residents north of Oregon can’t park south of the avenue, east of Broad Street, on game days without being towed, nor do they have any way to keep Eagles fans out of their neighborhoods.

"They need to broaden their boundaries, maybe go up to Moyamensing Avenue," said Paula Ferrazzano, who lives on the 2600 block of South 13th Street. "I mean, it’s South Philly. Sometimes you can’t help parking a block away from your house. To think you can get towed for that is nonsense."

On a recent Sunday morning, Ferrazzano’s car was towed after it was left on the 2700 block of South 13th Street.

"I just don’t understand why the city can’t be more accommodating. We don’t have garages or driveways. We’re really stuck," she said.

Both DiCicco and Greco said it’s unlikely the Sports Complex boundaries will be pushed back or that north-side neighbors will be able to park on the south side.

"The thing is, where do you draw the line? Some people say Snyder Avenue, but it’s humanly impossible to monitor that large an area," DiCicco said.

The councilman, along with Greco, has attended meetings with Council President Anna Verna, City Managing Director Phil Goldsmith, the police and the Parking Authority to seek alternatives.

Police officers even tried setting up barricades on the north side of Oregon from Eighth to 12th streets in an effort to keep out Eagles fans.

"It was just a temporary solution, but we’ve also encouraged them to petition the Parking Authority for permits for their side of Oregon," Greco said. "I think what needs to come out of this is a full-blown campaign with the Eagles and SEPTA for people to take public transportation to the games. There’s never going to be enough parking." SPR

Park them in Center City

Sports complex patrons and neighbors alike could find some relief in traffic woes — someday.

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission announced earlier this month that it had accepted a consultant’s study suggesting possible improvements to reconnect the sports complex to the rest of the city.

Gary Jastrzab, director of strategic planning and policy at PCPC, said the consultant team, led by Kise Straw Kolonder Inc., reviewed the way people arrive at the South Philly arenas. The result was a list of short- and long-term recommendations.

The short-term solutions would take six months to two years to implement, and include enhancement of pedestrian paths and walkways with signs and fences, Jastrzab said. That would help move the massive flow of fans to Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park, he said.

The planning commission also wants to work toward "improving SEPTA marketing for transit down to the complex," Jastrzab said. The right campaign could convince stadium-goers to park in Center City and take SEPTA, he added.

In other mass transit initiatives, the study suggested restoration and extension of SEPTA’s Route 23 trolley to provide service between the sports complex and the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

In the long term, the planning commission is considering a light rail down Columbus Boulevard that would service the riverfront, sports complex and possibly even the redeveloping Navy Yard.

Comprehensive projects like these depend on regional transportation and the federal budget, among other factors, and will take 10 years or longer to develop, according to Jastrzab.

"The funding mechanisms have to be in place," the planner said, adding that changes are "not necessarily going to happen tomorrow."

Other possible improvements include widening the sidewalks on Pattison Avenue, and decorative stands with chains to direct people and prevent them from darting across the parking lots and through traffic.

The study began in February, and was funded through a $53,000 federal grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Transit Support Program.

The consultant team reviewed transit-industry trends, conducted on-site inspections of the Broad and Pattison subway station, the four stadiums and adjoining parking lots, interviewed officials representing the sports teams and surveyed sports complex patrons to find where they come from and how they get there. The study concluded in June.

–by Drake Bearden