Gettysburg 150th parking and shuttles

[Rob9641]

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/...sburg-150th-parking-and-shuttles-map-and-more

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I'm thinking about alllll the extra spots they've marked, which is great and I do think they are doing the best they can, but- I'm also guessing parking is still going to be overflowing even what is possible there. I've been there when the mall and guest center both were filled, and it was a 'normal' day ( abeit years ago, when my daughter first started at the school ). It just would not take an awful lot more to fill the other parking lots, much less most of the US and parts of Europe coming to Gettysburg. Whew. I live an hour and a half away, thinking of offering our driveway. Our park employees are going to deserve the first medals in 150 years, and a long vacation, when the dust clears again.

How cool is that though, that this moment in History is THAT important to so many people. Gives me the chills, just don't ask me to bring my car.

 

[Rob9641]

Parking was more than insane this week, continuing even today, July 5. There were a couple times when there was officially no parking space left in Gettysburg anywhere. The park service opened fields that weren't intended to be opened. Shuttles worked well, but for Pickett's Charge they were so overwhelmed that a lot of people never made it up to the field. When I started walking up from the VC bus parking lot at 2:15, the line for shuttles was still 1/10 mile long.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Ah. I wondered. With the best intentions in the world- and the best planning, there still had to be a point of saturation. It seemed inevitable, how many Gettysburg archivists/historians/enthusisiasts ( using the terms loosely- the word 'fan' is dreadful, like everyone would show up painted gray and blue, clutching plastic cups of beer, nachos and foam fingers ) can fit on the head of a pin?

One of the articles in our Patriot News here said something along the lines of the first tourist showing up at Gettysburg within moments of the last skirmishes dying away, Confederate forces still there - in fact the carraiges and horses were pressed into service by desperate ( probably irate, geesh- think about Bull Run, do civilians ever learn? ) leaders in need of ambulances and messengers. That they'd been coming in a steady stream ever since. It's just that it was clear something terribly unique, unmatchable, however awful had occured there- it's only grown in 150 years. There was a thread indicating maybe Civil War interest was waning, I'm inclined to disagree. My 14 year old son might get his facts garbled, but he'd have eaten a live chicken if we thought it was possible to get parking this past week, go be a part of that steady stream who wished to go touch History.

 

[whitworth]

The official end of the Civil War - - - a parking lot.

 

[Michael t]

We were there Friday... Parked by the National Cemetery ... found we were miles away...a very nice volunteer told us how to get where we needed to be.. Parked at Gettysburg High School,shuttled to Reenactment and back..we left early because they told us the last shuttle was leaving by 7:30 pm not 8 pm... we both move kinda slow and didn't want to walk back to school. All in all a great experience..Traffic no worse than leaving a sporting event elsewhere.

 

[Rob9641]

Ah. I wondered. With the best intentions in the world- and the best planning, there still had to be a point of saturation. It seemed inevitable, how many Gettysburg archivists/historians/enthusisiasts ( using the terms loosely- the word 'fan' is dreadful, like everyone would show up painted gray and blue, clutching plastic cups of beer, nachos and foam fingers ) can fit on the head of a pin?

One of the articles in our Patriot News here said something along the lines of the first tourist showing up at Gettysburg within moments of the last skirmishes dying away, Confederate forces still there - in fact the carraiges and horses were pressed into service by desperate ( probably irate, geesh- think about Bull Run, do civilians ever learn? ) leaders in need of ambulances and messengers. That they'd been coming in a steady stream ever since. It's just that it was clear something terribly unique, unmatchable, however awful had occured there- it's only grown in 150 years. There was a thread indicating maybe Civil War interest was waning, I'm inclined to disagree. My 14 year old son might get his facts garbled, but he'd have eaten a live chicken if we thought it was possible to get parking this past week, go be a part of that steady stream who wished to go touch History.

People love a train wreck. Crazy, but true. Begs the question, what was more interesting about the 150th at Gettysburg - the commemorations or the traffic?

 

[reading48]

Parking along Confederate Ave. was like musical chairs...People waiting to see who was leaving so they could jump in their spot....speed was abt 2 Mi. an hour.....

 

[Nolan]

I went yesterday to see the Wheat Field portion of the reenactment and getting in was easy since I went later in the day. I purposely came from the West via I-81 and took Route 30 over so I could avoid going through Gettysburg or 15.

I could tell the battle was winding down so I started making my way towards where I parked (I was going to do the shuttle but the way I went in, I got to where the event was before event getting to where the shuttle was at so I just parked there). I was able to beat most of the rush since I was already near the parking lot. As I was attempting to leave, one of the parking coordinators asked me to go slow and follow his pace so they could create two lines of cars to exit the parking lot.

It was my intention to go left out of the lot to go back the way I came since it seemed that most people were going right out of the lot towards 15. The next set of parking personnel made us stop before we could turn out onto the road and held us there. While we were held, they were allowing spectators to cross the road at two points to get to the parking lot.

Then from left traveling down the road, here comes the Confederate artillery pieces being lead by the Confederate General and he had an exchange with the seemingly head honcho of the parking, explaining that they are supposed to be able to use the road and then be able to get to their camps but the way the cars were lined up prevented them from doing that. Then there was a whirl of confusion because no one knew what to do.

As I was waiting to go out, they started letting the right lane of traffic go first and had them turn right as it was intended. After that lane cleared, they then allowed my lane to go but we had to go right because of the whole road being full of the reenactors and artillery pieces. A police officer finally took charge and got things moving. This was a bit frustrating because I was purposely not trying to go towards 15 to avoid bottle necking so it took awhile to get out after going down the various roads to 15. There was another point I was going to attempt to go West but the police would only allow the traffic to head in one direction.

It all worked out in the end but unfortunately my steps to avoid delays didn't work lol. With that being said, I was at the beginning of it all so I can only imagine how long it took others to get out.

After what I have read, I am glad I didn't take the shuttle after all.

 

[pamc153PA]

I'm glad folks who went for this anniversary week had a good time and got to see some of the reenactments. It also sounds like a lot of people were ready for things to be busy, and had a good, pretty patient attitude about it when things got hairy, at least those who have posted here. I'm sure it wasn't like that with everyone, though--which is why I went a couple weeks ago, and won't go again until the last week of July. Unlike the original soldiers who tramped that battlefield, and those who attended 150 years later, I like my Gettysburg to be way less stressful and dangerous!

 

[Floridaman1985]

From my experience, the July 1 shuttle situation seemed to be a mess. We ended up walking everywhere because they were so slow (over 12 miles). The July 2nd and 3rd shuttle service was excellent.

 

[Nolan]

I'm glad folks who went for this anniversary week had a good time and got to see some of the reenactments. It also sounds like a lot of people were ready for things to be busy, and had a good, pretty patient attitude about it when things got hairy, at least those who have posted here. I'm sure it wasn't like that with everyone, though--which is why I went a couple weeks ago, and won't go again until the last week of July. Unlike the original soldiers who tramped that battlefield, and those who attended 150 years later, I like my Gettysburg to be way less stressful and dangerous!

Definitely understood. The reenactments are the only reason I traveled in. I am fortunate enough to only live about an hour and fifteen minutes away so I didn't bother strolling around the battlefield since it would be so crowded.

 

[pamc153PA]

Definitely understood. The reenactments are the only reason I traveled in. I am fortunate enough to only live about an hour and fifteen minutes away so I didn't bother strolling around the battlefield since it would be so crowded.

To be honest, though, as I spent last week watching the events and author talks on C-SPAN and PCN, and also read the extended stories about local CW soldiers in my local newspapers (The Morning Call of Allentown had a good series on the 153rd PA, where my ggggg-uncle served until he was wounded on Day 1 at Barlow's Knoll), I did entertain the thought of driving out (takes me about 2 hours) more than once--and then scolded myself: "What the h3ll are you thinking??"

I'll wait a couple weeks!