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Officials urge visitors to use multiple transit options to access NFL draft
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- Officials urge visitors to use multiple transit options to access NFL draft
Visitors are encouraged to take advantage of various transit options if they plan on attending the NFL draft, which is two weeks away from taking over downtown Detroit.
Mayor Mike Duggan, alongside Visit Detroit and transit officials at the Rosa Parks Transit Center on Thursday, laid out multiple options for the public to access the area, including the QLINE, bus services, Park & Ride, Detroit People Mover and more. The big message is to have a plan, as Duggan warns that navigating downtown will not be the same as a Detroit Lions game day and not everyone will be able to access the main stage draft theater due to limited capacity.
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"We're going to see 300,000 people down here Thursday night," Duggan said. "Something like 300,000 people have downloaded the NFL OnePass. So we got folks thinking, 'I got my pass, I got a ticket inside.'"
The NFL draft stage set up has begun near Cadillac Square and Campus Martius in Detroit on Monday, April 1, 2024.
The NFL will determine the venue capacity in real time, said Marty Dobek, deputy director for the Detroit Sports Commission.
Entry to the NFL draft event is free and visitors are asked to download the OnePass app and register for entry. Anyone without a smartphone can register on-site. Entry points into the event include Jefferson Avenue and Randolph Street, Jefferson Avenue and Griswold Street, and Cadillac Square and Randolph Street.
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Draft programming will run from 8 to 11 p.m. on Thursday, April 25; 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, April 26; and noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. The NFL Draft Experience, presented by Rocket Mortgage at Hart Plaza, will run from noon to 10 p.m. April 25 and 26, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 27.
Bus services
The city is partnering with QLINE, Wayne State University, General Motors and Michigan Central for park-and-ride services.
Park-and-ride services will be available at QLINE stations on a first-come basis for $5 per vehicle:
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WSU Lot 12 at Harper and Woodward near the Amsterdam station.
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New Center garage at 116 Lothrop near the Grand Boulevard station.
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Cass Garage at 6540 Cass Ave. near the Baltimore station.
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John R and Piquette at 6230 John R near the Amsterdam station.
Shuttle services:
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$10 per car at WSU structures 1, 5 and 2 at 450 W. Palmer St.
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$15 per car at Bagley Mobility Hub at 1501 Wabash St. Prepay is recommended.
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$15 per car at River East Garage, 214 Rivard St. Prepay is recommended.
SMART will also offer park-and-ride options, which will depart once per hour between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day. Other details of the schedule:
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Thursday and Friday, buses will leave downtown to park and ride locations hourly from 1 to 11:30 p.m.
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Saturday, buses will leave downtown hourly from 1 to 7:30 p.m.
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East side of downtown pickup and drop-off will be at the Bricktown People Mover station.
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West side of downtown pickup and drop-off will be at the Fort-Cass People Mover station.
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One-way fares will be $2 per adult, $1 per person ages 5-18 and 50 cents per adult 65 and older.
SMART park-and-ride locations:
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Great Lakes Crossing, 4000 Baldwin, Auburn Hills.
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Lakeside Mall, 14000 Lakeside Circle, Sterling Heights.
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Mount Clemens Farmers Market, 141 N. River Road.
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Meijer, 36000 Van Dyke Ave., Sterling Heights.
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Troy Civic Center Park and Ride lot, 520 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy.
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Oakland Community College Orchard Ridge Campus, 27055 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills.
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Southfield Civic Center bus terminal, 24350 Civic Center Drive.
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Westland Police Department, 36701 Ford Road.
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Fairlane Town Center, 18900 Michigan Ave., Dearborn.
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Lincoln Park Community Center, 3525 Dix Highway.
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Meijer, 16300 Fort St., Southgate.
Visitors attending the NFL Draft can take advantage of several Park and Ride bus services to get to and from downtown Detroit.
Detroit Department of Transportation
DDOT services will operate as scheduled but with modified routes due to downtown road closures. Beginning at 8 p.m. April 23 through 6 a.m. April 29, DDOT buses coming from the east side will stop at the Bricktown People Mover station. Buses coming from the west side will stop at Rosa Parks Transit Center. Riders can visit their website for updated map and route information .
People Mover
The Detroit People Mover will operate all day throughout downtown for the NFL Draft.
Detroit's elevated rail system will run 24 hours a day, beginning 7 a.m. Thursday, April 25, through midnight on Sunday, April 28, with trains up to every 5 minutes.
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All 13 stations will be open to and from the draft activation sites, as well as restaurants, lodging, parking and transfers between DDOT and the QLINE.
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Visitors will be able to utilize Financial District and Millender Center stops next to entry points into the event footprint.
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The Fort/Cass Station will be the designated station connecting accessible transportation and is the west side transfer and drop-off point for west-side DDOT and SMART buses.
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Bricktown Station is the east-side transfer and drop-off point for east-side DDOT and SMART buses.
A map provided by Visit Detroit on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, ahead of the 2024 NFL draft, highlights the location for the draft theater and the draft experience. The draft is scheduled for April 25-27 in Detroit.
QLINE
The free rail service traveling along Woodward Avenue will operate with shortened routes but higher frequency during the event.
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The QLINE will run from 8 a.m. to midnight Thursday, April 25, through Saturday, April 27, stopping at Sproat Street by Little Caesars Arena.
Rideshare
Visitors are also encouraged to use Uber and Lyft. The city is working with rideshare partners and the NFL to create designated pick-up and drop-off locations at accessible points throughout downtown.
Bike and scooter rental
Detroit's MoGo bike share system has 620 bikes and 75 stations in six metro Detroit metro cities, available for viewing in an online station map .
Lime, Spin and Boaz scooters will be available. Both scooters and bikes will be "geofenced to prohibit their use within the NFL footprint and approximately a one-block radius surrounding the footprint," according to the city. Drop-off valet stations will be set up near the event footprint entry points to ease navigation.
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DTW to downtown Detroit
Detroit Air Express (DAX) is an airport shuttle offering 16 daily round trips from downtown to DTW. The shuttle runs daily from 3:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets are $8 at the door and $6 in advance.
Pick-up and drop-off points will be on the west side of Washington Boulevard near State Street by the Westin Book Cadillac. DTW travelers can find the shuttle at the departure area of the McNamara Terminal and Ground Transportation at the Evans Terminal. The D2A2 bus, from Detroit to Ann Arbor, will move its pick-up and drop-off location in Detroit to Bagley Street near First Street.
Coach buses and shuttles
Private coach buses and shuttles will be required to layover outside of the Central Business District downtown. The south side of the Renaissance Center at the GM Wintergarden can be used for pick-up and drop-off to allow access from Interstate 375 and near the main entrance to the event. More information on locations will be shared on the NFL OnePass and Visit Detroit sites.
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ADA and mobility services
Visitors who need mobility assistance can reach out to the NFL Mobility Assistance Program at NFLDraftMobility@gmail.com or by calling 888-745-1455 beginning Monday, April 15. There will also be mobility assistance services available at all fan booths.
Visitors are encouraged to bring their own mobility devices through the entry points. Wheelchairs are available in the venue on a first-come first-serve basis. Eligible Detroit residents can also use DDOT Paratransit services by reaching out to 313-774-5555. Designated ADA drop-off points will be near the Jefferson Avenue and Randolph Street entrance.
Visitors from Canada
Transit Windsor will be operating "enhanced tunnel bus service" for visitors with service every 30 minutes through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
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"As Canadian and American NFL fans make their way to Detroit, for those who have decided to stay in Windsor hotels the international tunnel bus service, connecting downtown to downtown, has expanded their service hours and increased their departure frequency to help meet demand," Gordon Orr, CEO Tourism Windsor Essex, said in a statement.
More information is available online .
Construction of the draft theater is underway at Monroe and Randolph streets. Visitors can expect several road closures spanning from Campus Martius Park to Hart Plaza, which will mainly encompass the draft footprint .
A collection of oversized cleats that were painted with murals by local Detroit artists that are part of the DCLEATED exhibit, which was introduced during a media event at Huber Yard in Detroit on Thursday, March 21, 2024.
Attendees can also expect a plethora of events surrounding the footprint at Beacon Park, Capitol Park, Grand Circus Park, Harmonie Park, and some private and public events. A display of 20 football cleat sculptures for the "DCLEATED" exhibit are also displayed across downtown and available for auction.
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Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mike Duggan provides transit tips to get around NFL draft
