New thread for the Balloon Fiesta....

[Banjo]

.....the orginal was getting long. Copied my reply here;


Re: It's That Time Again!

Post  Banjo Today at 2:48 pm
Take a look at this: click on the Google maps link and you can scroll around and see all the relevant locations.

http://www.balloonfiesta.com/operations/contact-us

Gate 9 is the furthest north access gate.  Where your hotel is, is on the south bound (one way) frontage rd. of I-25. During the Fiesta they route all balloon traffic north on I-25 to the Tramway/Roy rd. exit, then west under I-25 to the south bound frontage rd. then south down to Balloon Fiesta Parkway , then west directly down to gate 9. That's the only way the general public can get in. There are other VIP and supply entrances down off of Alameda, Bl. but Alameda is closed to through traffic on weekends.

To go north from your hotel there are two possibilities. (Stay with me, this gets complicated. ) Go west on the hotel parking lot to Jefferson Bl., which runs right along the west side of the parking lot. Go north on Jefferson, stay in right lane,  to the entrance to Paseo del Norte Bl.  Take P del N over I-25 to the on ramp to I-25 north. At that point you will merge with all the balloon traffic coming from the south. How feasible all that is, I can't say, never having a need to try it during the Fiesta, have done it in 'normal' days. There will be heavy traffic coming from the west side and P del N is the only direct route from there on the north side of town.

The second 'route' and the one that is probably better is to go south on  the frontage road from the hotel to the first stop light, Ellison rd., just a short distance south. Turn east on Ellison, go under I-25, turn north on the north bound frontage rd, and merge with  balloon traffic as above.

After getting on I-25 N. just 'follow the crowd' and they will exit you at Tramway/Roy and direct around to the Balloon Fiesta Parkway.

It sounds convoluted but they have found that this is the best way to route the heavy traffic in the mornings during the mass ascensions. Believe me, I have lived through all the earlier 'methods' and this is the best one.  There was one time, years ago, when I had to get out of the car and bodily throw the street barricades into the vacant lot just so I could get into my street ! They have now gotten "their heads out of......" and local residents now have special passes that let us get past road blocks...see below....

Residents and businesses in this area all given special passes that allow us to get in/out and get around the road blocks. I can give you one, have a spare, but it wouldn't help you get into the balloon park, it's only for local areas where Alameda and Jefferson are blocked off in the mornings.

Hope this helps, and I imagine that hotel staff can provide good help .....they go through this every year.

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