The Masters Tournament traffic plan is in place and packs two big changes this year.
Tournament patrons will no longer have to ignore their GPS apps as they try to park or leave the tournament. And, a temporary stoplight and crosswalk at River Ridge Road will ease crossing Washington Road.
Augusta Traffic Engineer John Ussery unveiled the plan Wednesday. It’s set to go into effect Monday, April 1 so locals and early visitors can get accustomed to the changes, he said.
Driving to Augusta National Golf Club
As in prior years, the eastbound I-20 Exit 199 to Washington Road will be closed each morning from 7 a.m. through mid-morning, Ussery said.
“So if you’re coming in from Atlanta, you have to get on Riverwatch Parkway, which is Exit 200,” he said. “Then we direct the traffic from River Watch onto Alexander Drive, straight down to Berckmans Road where the parking area is.”
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Patrons driving in from South Carolina can also use Exit 200, the westbound Exit 199 or Exit 1 in North Augusta, he said.
When Alexander fills up with vehicles, officials will close the turn and route all eastbound traffic on River Watch toward downtown Augusta, Ussery said. Downtown, signs will direct motorists from River Watch onto John C. Calhoun Expressway, which turns into Washington Road heading west to the golf club.
The other primary routes patrons arriving on I-20 use are Exit 195 at Wheeler Road or Exit 196 at Bobby Jones Expressway. From those exits they can take Wheeler or Walton Way to Berckmans Road, he said.
Deputies will direct traffic at the roundabout on Berckmans at Ingleside Drive. In the mornings, an extra “wrong-way” lane will be added at the roundabout north onto Berckmans for greater access, Ussery said.
Motorists should expect heavy traffic from 7-10 a.m. as patrons flood the club gates and typically fill up the parking lots, he said.
Temporary stoplight at River Ridge Road
Multiple agencies cooperated to install a temporary traffic signal at River Ridge Road, located just west of National Hills Shopping Center, he said.
Augusta National Golf Club’s new venue at the former J.B. White’s department store in the shopping center was the driving factor behind the temporary crossing, Ussery said.
“What that means for traffic is that there will be a lot of pedestrians that will want to cross at this intersection,” he said.
A temporary crosswalk for pedestrians will be created across Washington Road at River Ridge, he said.
Traffic on River Ridge can’t go straight at the light – they may only turn left or right onto Washington Road, he said.
Use your phone for directions
Patrons have been warned for years that using GPS will take them in circles and not to club parking. All that is changing with the club’s development of a web app accessible by a QR code, Ussery said.
“Every year, my mantra has been ‘don’t use your phone. Turn off your phone,” Ussery said. “This year, we’re completely changing that to turn on your phones and use your navigation.”
Once they scan the code, the app gives users a choice of Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze to use for directions to parking, he said.
When traffic backs up and officials close lanes or roads, a consultant stationed at the city’s traffic center will be able to send live updates to the navigation apps, Ussery said.
As the gates close, the app will be reversed to direct motorists safely out of the club, he said.
Traffic patterns shift as patrons leave
As play winds down each day, the focus shifts to getting thousands of patron vehicles out of the lots efficiently.
Berckmans Road is converted to a one-way northbound street. Traffic leaving the parking lots must take Berckmans either to Washington Road or Alexander Drive.
There’s also an Augusta National-owned drive that routes motorists in the club’s lower lots behind the Publix shopping center to Washington Road, he said.
To contend with the occasional vehicle coming up Berckmans from the south, officials have created a mandatory detour on Wellington Drive sending cars back the way they came, he said.
In addition, a “soft closure” at Surrey Center, located south of the club, will warn approaching vehicles they can enter the shopping center, but not the club from that direction, he said.
If patrons do venture downtown during the tournament, they’ll be pleased to find all ongoing streetscape construction has been halted for the week. Street sections that have been closed for months – on 13th, Fifth, Telfair and Reynolds – will be reopened, some permanently, he said.
