56 South Bay Accent It has taken lots of hard work and even a bit of luck to deliver one of the world’s premiere showcases to our doorstep. The local bid was “kind of a Hail Mary pass,” according to Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews, a fifth-generation Santa Clara resident and descendent of the famed Donner Party. “We felt if we worked cooperatively on a regional basis, we could compete. We felt the Bay Area would be an attractive candidate because it’s a destination and on most people’s bucket lists,” Matthews adds. Indeed, locals were so intent on securing Super Bowl 50 that they hastened the completion of Levi’s Stadium by one year so the resident San Francisco 49ers could play two seasons here, meeting the NFL’s minimum requirements to play host for the game. Once the giddiness subsided, the hard work of planning one of the world’s premier sporting events commenced. Hosting tens of thousands of out-of-town visitors for the game and its 100-plus related outings— including black-tie balls, celebritystudded soirees in five-star restaurants, fun runs and tree-lighting ceremonies—is a tall order. But the South Bay seems to be taking it in stride, and is offering up several months of football-themed calendar items sure to excite. The Bay Area will also need to accommodate 5,000 members of the media who will be crawling all over and dissecting the 45 miles between Levi’s Stadium and Super Bowl City, a sprawling exhibit of sports activities, cultural displays, regional cuisine and headquarters for CBS Sports, which is the official broadcast network for the game, in downtown San Francisco. However, this effort should be worth its weight in gold. Super Bowl 50 is estimated to generate $300 million to $500 million in economic activity for the region. Stephanie Martin, vice president of marketing and communications for the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee, the nonprofit overseeing planning of the game and events, says the event will highlight the region’s best-known products—technology and terroir. Technological innovations will be an integral part of the game itself, while the Host Committee has partnered with tourism and winery officials throughout Wine Country to tout their world-class attractions to Super Bowl fans. Though San Francisco may be the location of many events, both Super Bowl teams will be staying in Silicon Valley. Kim ROUTE OPTIONS For fans, traffic may be one of the biggest obstacles to overcome during this festive season. Niners’ faithful can attest that Levi’s Stadium has not always been the easiest place to reach. Periodic traffic gridlock on local roadways and long lines waiting on Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail trains have added to the frustration. For Super Bowl 50, a landmark event for this pinnacle of American sporting spectacles, Santa Clara officials say they are taking no chances. Mayor Jamie Matthews has been meeting with the alphabet soup of South Bay transit agencies—VTA, BART, ACE and Caltrain—to alleviate the crush of the tens of thousands who will stream in and out of the stadium on Feb. 7. For its part, VTA plans to add 15 trains to its normal Sunday schedule; it already spent $14 million to add an additional line in the stadium area, Matthews says. Trains will be staged on a spur line during the game to help handle exiting crowds. Another idea being tossed about is issuing one-day universal passes for anyone taking multiple transit lines to and from the game, according to the mayor. That way, commuters can move seamlessly between BART trains and VTA shuttle buses or Caltrain to VTA light rail. For the thousands who choose the All-American option of traffic jams, Matthews says that officials hope to ease the vehicular crunch by converting Great America Parkway—the expansive thoroughfare connecting Highway 101 to the stadium—into all one-way lanes leading to and from Levi’s before and after the game. At the main parking garages near Tasman Drive and Great America Parkway, temporary pedestrian bridges are being built to remove those on foot from the streets and train lines. Matthews says he’s cautiously optimistic a “car-mageddon” can be avoided. During WrestleMania 31 last March, 78 percent of attendees took public transit. Super Bowl 50 transit and parking fees have yet to be established, but he says parking a car will be an expensive proposition—far more than taking the bus or train. “During the regular (49ers) season, $40 is the cheapest parking fee,” Matthews notes. PHOTO: JIM BAHN
South Bay Accent - Dec 2015/Jan 2016
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