Go Metro to downtown Los Angeles’ big sports weekend — Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Amgen Tour of California

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Kings winger Kyle Clifford fights for the puck during last night's 2-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. Photo Noah Graham/NHLi, via Getty Images and LAKings.com.

Traffic around downtown Los Angeles is probably not going to be a treat this weekend — particularly on Sunday. In the morning, the final stage of the Amgen Tour of California will shut down many streets before finishing at L.A. Live just before noon. The downtown portion of the race course will be open to public biking from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (Registration required).

The downtown circuit for the Amgen Tour of California

Then, at noon, the Los Angeles Kings try to sweep the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 4 of their playoff series and earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. The ‘Yotes spent the better part of their losing effort in Game 2 trying to knock Kings captain Dustin Brown out of the playoffs — they failed — and in Game 3 on Thursday night, the Phoenix offense remained impotent and unable to solve Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick.

Here is the traffic alert from the Kings, along with parking options. And here is the list of bus detours around the area for bike race.

For those who don’t want to mess with their cars or traffic, a very good travel option into downtown L.A. this weekend is Metro Rail, with routes feeding into downtown from every direction. Please note that bikes are allowed at all times on Metro Rail and seats have been removed on many rail vehicles to provide space for cyclists.

In addition, traffic promises not to be real treat Friday or Saturday in the downtown area. The Lakers host Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Staples and a gospel event at the Convention Center is expected to draw 15,000 people or more that day. A very large fan turnout is expected for the touring Roger Waters: The Wall concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday night — here is a post about traveling to the show via the Expo Line. The Clippers host San Antonio at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and again at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

About Metro Rail:

•The new Expo Line runs from the La Cienega/Jefferson station to 7th/Metro Center at the intersection of Figueroa and 7th streets, with a stop at Pico — two short blocks from L.A. Live and Staples Center. There is free parking available at the Metro garage at La Cienega/Jefferson, as well as many paid parking options at Exposition Park. Timetable and parking info

•The Red Line subway runs from North Hollywood to Union Station. There is free parking at the North Hollywood station, Universal City station and numerous paid parking lots around stations in Hollywood — although beware of the Tour of California, which is routed through Hollywood. There is also paid parking at Union Station — it’s $6 for the day. Timetable and parking info

•The Orange Line busway runs between Warner Center and the North Hollywood Red Line station and has free parking in several lots. Timetable and parking info

•The Blue Line runs between downtown Long Beach and 7th/Metro Center at 7th and Figueroa, with a stop at Pico, two short blocks from L.A. and Staples Center. There are free parking lots along the route, as well as paid parking in downtown Long Beach. Timetable and parking info

•The Green Line runs between Redondo Beach and Norwalk and offers transfers to the Blue Line. There is also free parking at several lots at stations. Timetable and parking info

•The Gold Line runs to Union Station from both Pasadena and East Los Angeles. There are several free parking lots or garages along the route, as well as street parking and paid parking in downtown Pasadena. Timetable and parking info. Please note the Pasadena Marathon is Sunday morning and there will be street closures.

•Metrolink and Amtrak trains serve Union Station, with connections to the Red/Purple Line subway to reach downtown L.A. destinations. Metrolink has service on the Antelope Valley, San Bernardino and Orange County lines on Sundays. Metrolink schedules and Amtrak.com

A single ride on Metro Rail is $1.50; tickets are available at ticket vending machines at all rail stations. If you need to transfer, the best choice is a day pass for $5, also available at all ticket vending machines. Fares can also be stored on electronic TAP cards, which cost $2 and are available at all ticket machines.

On the go and need rail and bus arrival/departure times from your current location? Try Metro’s new app for smartphones. Android version and iPhone version

Categories: Go Metro

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4 replies ›

  1. Whomever decided to swap the large trains on the blue line to the smaller trains, what were they thinking? It has been jam packed even during the workdays.
    Coworker tried the Blue line for the first time ever for the Staple Center event this weekend and said he had never seen so many beggars and homeless people in his entire life on one trip and he was born in LA. No beggars on the Buses ever, trains are riddled with this until they fix the gate system, I pay my fair, others should have to as well.
    I think the head guy at LA metro filling out the ID10-T forms should have to take the Blue, Green and Gold lines daily as punishment till they fix it.

  2. Unless things blow up (e.g.., multiple overtimes), trains will run late enough. Of course, part of Metro’s marketing efforts should have been that trains would run as late as necessary to get everyone home.

  4. It’s not a surprise but it is nonetheless disappointing that Metro has missed a golden opportunity to innovatively encourage people to ride Metro during this weekend’s downtown glut of major events. Apparently there will be no extra trains on any of the lines — particularly the Blue and Expo Lines that run by Staples Center and the PR for using Metro has been mediocre, at best.