Austin City Limits Music Festival: What You Need To Know

The 2015 Austin City Limits Music Festival is taking place this weekend and next weekend in Zilker Metropolitan Park.

It’s one of Austin’s largest festivals and that means there will be street closures and traffic delays.

The northern part of the park, the Great Lawn, is closed until Oct. 23 for staging and post-event maintenance, city officials said.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to get around during festival.

Road Closures

• Street closures will occur starting at 12:01am Friday through early Monday morning of each festival weekends.
• Motorists should expect delays around the Zilker Park/Barton Springs Road area and throughout downtown.
• All commuters are to expect higher volume of traffic in the general park area during the overall festival period. Enclosed please find the highlighted street closures next to Zilker Metropolitan Park
• For safety during load-in, Stratford Road will be closed on selected days - details are at: www.austintexas.gov/ac
• On event days:
  • Barton Springs Road from Sterzing Street to Rollingwood Drive.
  • Stratford Drive from Barton Springs Road to Nature Center Trail.
  • Barton Springs Road/Lou Neff to Stratford Drive (right lane westbound).
  • For a complete list of closures, check www.austintexas.gov/ac

Parking and Traffic

• There will be a traffic pattern change on Barton Springs Road for the 2015 year to help further reduce the number of vehicles impacting and causing safety concerns for patron pedestrian foot traffic entering the Festival.
• Barton Springs road will be open for local access only from Lamar to Sterzing. All non-local traffic will be directed out of the area from Sterzing, to Toomey and Toomey to Lamar.
• There is NO ACCESS further west to Robert E. Lee as in previous years. The festival will be providing a free shuttle for festival attendees.
• Public safety personnel will be routinely patrolling and towing in the affected areas.

Festival Attendees

• Use the free festival shuttle to the event site, or bike to the event. http://www.aclfestival.com/
• There is NO parking at the park, and extensive restricted parking areas in outlying areas. Festival attendees should not drive to the park.
• Check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page and get other festival related information at: http://www.aclfestival.com/ , or www.austintexas.gov/ace

Park Access and Alternate Park Sites

• Most of Zilker Metropolitan Park will be accessible prior to the festival, and between event weekends, from Monday, October 5 through Thursday, October 8.
  • Park users can expect a high number of people in the park during festival weekends.
  • This includes the Rugby Field, Polo Field, Zilker Playscape, Barton Springs Pool, Zilker Botanical Garden and Austin Nature and Science Center.
• All of Zilker Metropolitan Park and the Zilker Botanical Gardens will be closed to the public during the six festival days only.
• Barton Springs Pool - Southgate Parking Lot will be open during the festival weekends and is reserved for pool users only.
• Access to Barton Springs Pool will be via Barton Hills Drive, Rabb Road or Bluebonnet Road to Robert E. Lee.
• There will be NO ACCESS to Barton Springs Road and Robert E. Lee.
• ADA pool parking is available in the Barton Springs Pool – Southgate Parking Lot, or first-come first-served on the north side via the northbound Mopac frontage at Andrew Zilker Road. Proper ADA tags must be displayed prior to approaching the area.

Alternative Park Use Areas

• Vic Mathias Shores (formerly Auditorium Shores) east and middle lawns will both be open at all times during the festival period. This will include the opening of the new off leash area on September 25, 2015.
• Butler Park is also open during both ACL Music Festival weekends for park patrons.
• A park directory is available at: www.austintexas.gov/parks.

[PHOTO: ACL Festival]