http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/football/cowboys/stories/062908dnmetstadiumparking.38ac625.htmlDallas Cowboys fans might want to wear comfortable shoes to the new stadium in Arlington.
The team estimates that some ticket holders will walk nearly a mile from their parking spaces to the stadium, which opens next year. But Cowboys officials also said that shouldn't be an adjustment because the back-row parking at Texas Stadium in Irving is about the same distance.
Overall, the team expects to have about 30,000 parking spaces within a mile of the new stadium, which is nearly double the number near the Irving stadium.
"Compared to the 16,000 spaces we have at Texas Stadium today, I think it's going to be a much better fan experience from the get-go," said Brett Daniels, a Cowboys spokesman.
Much attention has been paid to the traffic planning and millions of dollars in roadwork that will help fans get to the stadium. But finding a place for 80,000 people to park is a work in progress.
As the stadium enters its final year of construction, the complex parking plans are still being negotiated and tweaked. Of the total parking, only about 12,000 spaces will be at the new stadium.
The Cowboys must rely on their neighbors – Six Flags Over Texas, the Texas Rangers and privately owned office parks and shopping centers – to make sure there's enough asphalt to go around. Parking at those facilities are included in the 30,000 figure, Cowboys officials said.
Kim Jackson, former CEO of the International Parking Institute, said that 30,000 spaces – if accurate – should be adequate. She said parking formulas for stadiums typically recommend one car for every three fans and then add about 5 percent as a cushion.
That formula would suggest that the Cowboys need at least 28,000 spaces. The park would be proportionally comparable to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., which has a capacity of 63,400 people and about 26,000 total parking spaces.
Trey Yelverton, Arlington's deputy city manager, said the Cowboys lots plus a similar number of spaces at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington should accommodate most fans. However, the Rangers and Cowboys are talking about how that would work.
The presence of the nearby Rangers parking was one selling point for building the football stadium in Arlington's entertainment district. That greatly reduced the amount of land needed for the $1.1 billion project.
"We fully expect to utilize that parking," Mr. Daniels said. "It's just a matter of working with the Rangers now on the mechanics of how that's operated and who's controlling it on game day."
He said part of the negotiations involve how the parking money would be split. The Cowboys have not announced how much parking would cost fans for those Rangers lots, but it's common for NFL teams to charge $20 or more.
The combined parking leaves the Cowboys about 6,000 spaces short of the team's goal. A small chunk of that could come from the nation's biggest retailer.
Daniel Morales, a Wal-Mart regional spokesman, said the company is negotiating to allow the Cowboys to use some of its store parking across the street on game day. In exchange, the Cowboys would provide additional security to ensure that store customers have a place to park.
"We're working on something that's mutually beneficial," he said.
Wal-Mart is about a five-minute walk from the stadium across Randol Mill Road. Mr. Morales said he's unaware of any other Wal-Mart stores so close to a major sports facility.
Mr. Daniels said the Cowboys also intended to negotiate with Six Flags about using some parking. The rest, he said, could be filled by entrepreneurs, who already offer private parking to Rangers fans in office parks along Randol Mill.
He said there is little of that entrepreneurial parking at the Texas Stadium because it's surrounded by freeways.
Maximizing parking is particularly crucial because the Cowboys have one of only two NFL stadiums without nearby public transportation. The other is Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., although there is minimal usage of bus service by fans at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals stadiums.
Mr. Daniels said the team intends to talk to officials with Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority about options, but Arlington is not a member of either agency. Arlington is possibly the largest city in the nation without mass transit.
Although Irving is a member of DART, there is no game day service to Texas Stadium. The agency previously operated bus service to Cowboys games, but that was canceled several years ago. In 2002, about 42,000 people took DART buses to Cowboys games throughout the season.
Mr. Yelverton said that because the Cowboys and Rangers will share parking, it could present a conflict. What if both teams play at home on the same day?
He said there will be an effort to coordinate with the leagues about scheduling, but there are no guarantees. Mr. Yelverton doesn't think that the Cowboys and Rangers would ever have games scheduled at the same time on the same day.
"We've seen some modeling about what would happen," Mr. Yelverton said. "I don't think that it could be adequately managed."
