Concertgoers battle traffic, high-priced parking for Jay-Z, Beyonce show

ATLANTA — The Georgia Dome saw its first capacity crowd since construction began on the new Falcons stadium.
 
City leaders urged people to take MARTA to avoid a traffic nightmare. An estimated 50,000 people came to the Dome Tuesday night for the Jay Z, Beyonce concert.
 
MARTA officials said their early numbers showed as many as 15,000 people avoided $50 parking lots in the area. On a typical Tuesday, MARTA officials said fewer than 1,200 people use the stops around the Dome.
 
"This is a test I would say to see how people react to the actual construction going on down here," said concert goer Brandon Kirkland.
 
The project is underway but 1,300 parking spaces had to be cleared. The MARTA general manager and city leaders urged people to ride MARTA and avoid clogging the roadways.
 
Some residents including, Robin Gagnon, said the Castleberry Hill community and surrounding businesses were still impacted by people detouring through and choking off streets. She said the issue needs more attention from city leaders.
 
"I want to see a traffic plan. We want to see how you're going to move people into and out of our neighborhood. We'd also like to see where different people will be standing to direct traffic," Gagnon said.
 
Especially with the football season right around the corner, Mayor Kasim Reed said there's no way to avoid certain growing pain but steps are in please to ease the transition.

WSBTV