14,000 Spaces: SunTrust Park Touts Parking Plan

SMYRNA, GA -- With a little more than two weeks to go before the Braves' first home game, SunTrust Park game attendees will have more than 14,000 spots to choose from, the ballpark announced recently.

Unlike Turner Field, SunTrust Park officials said parking lots at the ballpark and the adjacent development, The Battery Atlanta, will have its own street address, making it easier to access via GPS.

Looking to head off criticism about traffic, Braves officials said that the fact that the new ballpark has 8,000 fewer seats than the downtown location cannot be underestimated.

Also, Cobb County businesses have come to the aid of the stadium, offering an extra 1,000 parking spaces for Braves games.

Cobb County has OK'd four businesses with surplus spaces to sell on game days while Smyrna has approved one, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Cobb officials are relying on the "gypsy" lots to account for the huge crowd expected on April 14, the Braves home opener.

Read more: The 'SunTrust Park Spark': Cobb Homes Rise in Value with Braves Move

“There’s two separate areas of parking,” Dana Johnson, Cobb’s community development director, told the Marietta Daily Journal. “There’s the areas where the Braves have agreements with private property owners in order to manage parking. In addition to that, there are private property owners who have excess parking they wish to sell, and they’re going through the process in order to get registration for their offsite parking, just as the Braves will be doing with theirs. All of it is parking that’s going to support operations to the park.”

The Boy Scouts of America, Atlanta Area Council at 1800 Circle 75 Parkway SE will split its 192 spots between fans and the media.

“There’s going to be no easier in and out in Braves country for parking than this lot,” Tracy Techau, Scout executive and CEO, told the Journal. “If you’re a member of the team or management, then I’m sure you’ve got an even better deal, but for the rest of us who like to go to Braves games, this is going to be the best thing possible.”

In addition, Akers Mill Square at 2967 Cobb Parkway will make 142 spots available for game days. Days Inn at 4502 Circle 75 Parkway will sell its 30 spots, and Memphis, Tennessee-based Olymbec USA, owner of the Atrium office space at 2400 Herodian Way will offer its 541 spots for game fans. Finally, the Holiday Inn at 2875 Spring Hill Parkway in Smyrna to put its 145 spots up for sale for $30, according to the AJC.

Image via Braves