After twenty years of hosting the Coachella Valley music and arts festival, weekend one proved that the city of Indio has it down to a “T”. While Thursday saw the most traffic due to hundreds of thousands of visitors pouring into the valley, the following days saw standard traffic.
Driving around this weekend it was all shuttle buses, Ubers and Lyft drivers; a swift system that kept everything moving quickly and efficiently.
“There’s actually been a lot of availability in the center where people can park because they’re bused in from the festivals,” Kristin May, the owner of Vintage Coffee House (VCH) in Indio, said.
VCH is minutes away from the festival grounds and has lines around the corner during Coachella and Stagecoach. May said they were able to serve both festival-goers and regular customers.
“We kind of split it up into thirds,” Jim Curtis, Community Services Manager of the city of Indio, said. “We have 40-thousand people that camp, 40-thousand people that shuttle in and 40-thousand people that commute or they’ll take Ubers or their rideshare or taxis or get dropped off by their parents.”
Curtis said the city has taken twenty years of critiques into account. This year they focused on communication with all of the entities.
“We work with the city of La Quinta, the city of Coachella, the whole Coachella Valley, the Riverside County Sheriff’s, the CHP,” Curtis said. “When we all come together, the plan works out as we have it on paper.”
What’s not on paper is the hiccups like a mobile shower unit fire or neighbors complaining about a noisy Ariana Grande set. All in all, Curtis said he’s content.
“Very successful weekend one, we’re happy with the results but we still have two more weeks to go, so we’re excited for that as well.”
To help with citizens’ complaints, Curtis said they have a resident hotline which allows people to call in and voice their concerns.
On Monday, City News Service reported theses road closures:
— Avenue 49 between Hjorth and Monroe streets;
— Avenue 50 between Madison and Jackson streets;
— Hjorth Street between Avenue 49 and Avenue 50; and
— Madison Street between Avenue 49 and Avenue 52.
City officials recommended that north- and southbound motorists use Washington, Jackson and Calhoun streets as well as Golf Center Parkway; while east-west travelers were advised to use Highway 111, Fred Waring Drive, Miles Avenue, Dr. Carreon Boulevard and Avenue 54.
