Linking Park Faint

Your Nationals Park travel guide

The only good thing to say about an unspringlike forecast for baseball’s opening day Thursday is that clouds, cold and a chance of rain could ease post-game congestion around Nationals Park .The seats should be filled for the Nationals’ 1:05 p.m. start against the Atlanta Braves. But the faint-hearted and under-dressed may depart before the afternoon rush hour is in full swing.

If not, fans tend to lose much of their post-game enthusiasm as they head for the Half Street Metro entrance or the 14th Street Bridge. Now that travelers have had a couple of years experience with Nationals Park, let’s review some of the lessons that can improve their mood, no matter how the team fares, on opening day and beyond.

First, some special notes about opening day: The stadium gates will open at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Parking garages B and C will open at 10:30 a.m. All other parking lots will open at 11 a.m.In anticipation of a large crowd and long lines at the gates, the Nationals advise fans to arrive extra early, take transit if possible and leave backpacks and bags at home so they don’t have to be examined at the gates. Also note that Metro police and the Transportation Security Administration could set up their random inspections of riders’ property at any time at any station entrance, causing further delays and disruptions.

Look for some extra crowding this afternoon on the Green Line. At 4 p.m., the Nationals will host Fan Fest at the stadium. Metro says it will add Green Line trains if necessary after the event. On Thursday, Metro says, it will have some eight-car trains on the Green Line and will run special shuttle trains between Mount Vernon Square and Navy Yard. On days like this when there’s a sellout crowd, Metro expects to carry about 20,000 people to and from the games. But opening day is unusual in that many fans will emerge from the stadium around the time rush hour is getting underway. It’s possible for fans to wait 30 minutes or longer to enter the Navy Yard Station.

Here’s some further guidance for game days.

Transit

* Even on when there’s not a huge crowd at the stadium, the Green Line and the Navy Yard platform can be jammed right before and after games. Metro does a good job getting fans onto and off the platform. But crowding can be very bad up the line at the L’Enfant Plaza and Gallery Place transfer points.

* Metro uses some crowd control techniques that are necessary for safety but mystify or annoy fans. Before games, trains heading for the Navy Yard platform might stop in the tunnel, or they might pull up to the platform and keep the doors closes for a moment till the platform crowding eases. After games, police may temporarily stop crowds at the street entrances until the platform is clear. Green Line riders sometimes are surprised to find they are on a shuttle traveling only between Navy Yard and Mount Vernon Square.

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