CINCINNATI — Getting down to Paycor Stadium can be challenging during the Fourth of July weekend. For days, city and county leaders have urged fans to get downtown early if they're attending events like the Taylor Swift concert or this weekend's Cincinnati Reds games.
To the southwest of Paycor, there are signs directing fans to the designated ridesharing areas, as just another way the city and county are trying to cut down on congestion.
"We didn't want to park by like the stadium, because it's easier to do this," said Becca Kirk, who traveled to Cincinnati from the Chicago suburbs to attend Taylor Swift's Friday night concert, as she waited for the free streetcar.
Cincinnati native Kathleen Wilke also took the streetcar with some mom friends who were all bringing their daughters to the show.
"We missed the first trolley, we're hoping to get the second, but we believe in public transportation," Wilke said.
Their group waited about five minutes before they were on the next streetcar to the show.
"What we are primarily concerned with is traffic flow and congestion," said Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, during a press conference on Tuesday.
If you're coming to downtown Cincinnati this weekend, take another look at this map which talks about drop off and pick up spots, as well as road closures. @WCPO https://t.co/MIdOmCmamH
— Bret Buganski (@Bret_Buganski) June 30, 2023
Pureval and others talked about how they're expecting around 150,000 people to be in the areas between Paycor Stadium and the Great American Ballpark for the Taylor Swift concerts, the Reds games, and Greensky Bluegrass playing a sold-out show at Andrew J Brady Music Center Saturday. The majority of road closures are between the two stadiums.
"You don't just have to come to The Banks and park here, you can park in Over-the-Rhine and Pendleton and other places you can jump on the streetcar," said Pureval. "We've learned a lot from that experience from last year and we're hoping to deal with those congestion problems more efficiently this time."
WCPO saw many Taylor Swift fans taking advantage of the free streetcar near Washington Park Friday, as well as the designated ridesharing areas southwest of Paycor Stadium.
"It wasn't that bad getting here — felt like a normal Uber experience, (but) probably won't be the case going back home," said Rachel Muegge.
The city and county will hopefully be able to fine-tune any problems ahead of Saturday.
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