Five things to know about parking, traffic at Sunday’s Cowboys and Rangers games

Sunday promises to be a day of delicious sports narratives in Arlington, with two big games taking place just a few hours apart that are expected to draw a combined 150,000 people.

But the two games will also likely create headaches for motorists trying to navigate their way in and out of the city’s entertainment district.

The Dallas Cowboys host the New England Patriots at AT&T Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 3:25 p.m., in what promises to be perhaps the home team’s best-attended football game of the year. Next door at Globe Life Park, the Texas Rangers host their first home game in the American League Division Series, with first pitch slated for 7:10 p.m.

Some parking areas are scheduled to open as early as 10 a.m., and others no later than 2 p.m. Tens of thousands of tailgaters are expected. And after the games, the traffic likely will be messy — if not chaotic — until nearly midnight.

To help sports fans and other motorists deal with the expected congestion, what follows are five key things to know about parking and traffic Sunday in Arlington.

1. Shared parking

Up to 4,500 vehicles belonging to Cowboys ticket holders typically park in Rangers lots, particularly lots A and M which are adjacent to AT&T Stadium. But on Sunday, many of those fans will have to find other options.

Only football ticket holders with season parking passes for those Rangers lots will allowed in, beginning at 10 a.m. No cash parking will be sold to football ticket holders, said Rob Matwick, Rangers executive vice president for business operations.

Baseball fans will be allowed in those same lots beginning at 2 p.m., and they can pay with cash, but they’ll have to show the attendant their baseball tickets to get in.

2. Price is right

Parking is typically much more expensive for football than baseball, and the difference will be glaring on Sunday.

Parking in Rangers lots A and M will be $15 for baseball ticket holders, but Cowboys ticket holders can expect to pay $20 to $60 for spots in the same lot. For those parking on Cowboys lots at AT&T Stadium, the price can be up to $75.

It’s kind of like air travel. If you paid $1,000 walk-up fare for your airplane seat, you’d probably rather not know that the guy snoring next to you got his ticket on sale for only $199.

3. ‘P’ stands for off-site parking

Plenty of off-site parking is available at businesses near AT&T Stadium, including popular restaurants and other retailers along North Collins Street, Stadium Drive and Division Street. But make sure the lot displays a placard with the letter P, showing it is a permitted lot that has been inspected by the city.

People who park in city-permitted lots are far less likely to get vandalized or towed, Arlington police say.

Lot owners can charge pretty much what they want, so expect to pay around $60 for parking within a quarter-mile of the stadium, and roughly $30 for spaces up to a mile away.

Another option: Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor will open for both Cowboys and Ranger fans.

“That is an additional 2,000 spaces which cash parking patrons can access,” said Cowboys spokesman Joe Trahan.

Many area hotels and restaurants offer shuttles to the games, such as Humperdinks, which takes patrons to either AT&T Stadium or Globe Life Park, and J. Gilligan’s, which offers a shuttle to AT&T Stadium.

4. Traffic flow

Say you’re a season-ticket holder and you’ve been using the same route to get to the game all year. Well this time, because the two games are overlapping, police may direct traffic in different directions than normal.

For football fans, consult the interactive map dallascowboysmap.com, which uses your ZIP code to show the best route to your parking spot. For Rangers fans, if you get to your parking spot at least an hour — and preferably two hours or more — before first pitch, you’ll likely avoid having to mingle with Cowboys fans leaving their game.

Fans are discouraged from using GPS systems, which may offer directions that are in conflict with traffic patterns.

Police have the flexibility to make changes to the direction of lanes on Randol Mill Road, Division Street and other area roads in response to traffic needs at any given time, a police spokesman said. Police don’t publicize ahead of time which roads will closed or which will be one-way, because those directions often change throughout the day as needed.

“It may look like we’re sending you in an indirect way, but we’ll be directing patrons to the quickest possible routes,” said Arlington police spokesman Sgt. Paul Rodriguez.

After the Rangers game, fans leaving on Interstate 30 heading westbound will be directed to on-ramps at AT&T Way and Center Street, while those heading east will have a special lane of I-30 from the on-ramps at Nolan Ryan Expressway and Ballpark Way. Also, the I-30 HOV lanes will be open to handle additional eastbound traffic.

5. Rides for hire

At Cowboys games, hailing a cab can be a real headache. So if you’re standing in the taxi queue — which is at the west end zone Party Pass plaza outside AT&T Stadium — be prepared for waits of up to an hour.

Arlington typically relaxes the rules limiting taxis in its city on major game days to increase the number of cabs allowed to pick up fares in the city, but lines of 200 to 300 people waiting for rides are common.

Ride-sharing vehicles such as Uber and Lyft now have their own queue in Lot 9, on the northwest end of the stadium property. One benefit of using those services is customers can often communicate with the driver by mobile phone and arrange to meet somewhere off stadium property — but, of course, that only works for customers willing to take a walk after the game.

After Rangers games, taxis and services such as Uber and Lyft share a queue near the ballpark’s third base entry.

This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Five things to know about parking, traffic at Sunday’s Cowboys and Rangers games."