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<p style="font-weight:bold; display: inline; line-height:150%; font-size: 105%;">CITY OF COLUMBIA, MISSOURI<br />P.O. BOX 6015 COLUMBIA, MO 65205</p></div>
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<h2 style="font-size: 200%;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</h2>
<p style="font-size: 120%; margin-top: -5px; font-weight:bold;">September 26, 2018</p>
<p style="float:right; font-weight:bold; margin-bottom: 75px; font-size: 120%; text-align:right;">CONTACT: Megan Sheets
<br />Event Services Specialist
<br />City of Columbia
<br />573.817.5052</p>
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<div style="font-size: 110%; line-height:200%;"><h3 style="clear:both; margin-top: 75px; margin-bottom: 10px; font-weight: bold; font-size: 170%;">Transit, traffic information for Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival, Sept. 28-30</h3>
<div class="content"><span style="padding-left: 50px;">(COLUMBIA, MO)</span> - <p style="display:inline;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the community welcomes residents and visitors for the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival Sept. 28 - 30 at Stephens Lake Park, City of Columbia officials want residents and visitors to be aware of changes and information for the festival.<br /><br />The Columbia Police Department will restrict traffic flow and parking in the area of Broadway, Old Highway 63 and East Walnut. East Walnut Street from Old Highway 63 to the dead end will be closed to through traffic, and public parking in the East Walnut Neighborhood will be restricted to those with neighborhood passes only. Those without passes will be ticketed and subject to a $50 fine and towing. Parking restrictions will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28 and continue until the event's completion on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 30.<br /><br />Old Highway 63 will be northbound only from Jack Est
es to Hinkson and Walnut will be westbound only from Old Highway 63 to William Street. Traffic going south on Old Highway 63 must turn west on Hinkson. The traffic changes will begin at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28. Traffic restrictions on Saturday and Sunday will begin shortly before the gates open each day and continue until the event's completion.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is no event parking, stopping, or pick-up/drop-off areas on or along Walnut Street or Old Highway 63; vehicles dropping off attendees are to pull into the Stephens Lake Park spraygrounds lot off Old Highway 63. Individuals utilizing rideshare services such as Lyft or Uber will have designated drop-off and pick-up locations in the spraygrounds lot off Old 63. There will be ADA-accessible parking at the Riechmann Pavilion, 2300 E. Walnut St. Those who are not attending the festival are asked to avoid the area to cut down on congestion.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Go COMO, the City's public transit system, will offer free public transportation to and from the event. Go COMO will provide free rides on all of the bus system's fixed routes for the entire city this weekend, including extended evening hours on Friday and Saturday night, as well as Sunday service. Stephens Lake Park will have two bus stops attendees can use during the daytime service hours. One is located at the park's south edge along Broadway for the 2A/Gold Route or 6/Pink Route, and there will be a temporary bus stop just for this weekend at the park's west entrance along Old Highway 63 that is an adjusted version of the 10-Red/Downtown Route running in reverse.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">After the last performance each night, look for Go COMO buses and yellow school buses lined up on the north side of the park at the Riechmann Pavilion to take attendees back downtown or back home on each of Go COMO Transit's 11 C
ity bus routes. No transfers or connections necessary. Free rides apply to all customers on the fixed bus routes this weekend, and no special pass or ticket is required to board for free.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Customers all over the city can take advantage of the free weekend service and extended service hours, not only festival-goers. For maps, live bus tracking and more information on bus routes, visit </span><a href="https://www.gocomotransit.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">goCOMOtransit.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or download the free Go COMO app on your smartphone.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Go COMO Transit service hours:</strong><br />Friday, Sept. 28: 6:25 a.m. - 10 p.m.<br />Saturday, Sept. 29: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.<br />Sunday, Sept. 30: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.<br />Plus a late night departure after the last show ends each night of the festival.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is limited parking around the festival area, event-goers are encouraged to park downtown and take advantage of the free shuttle service. Parking garages downtown are free after 6 p.m. on Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday - except spaces marked as ‘24-hour enforced.’ Event-goers should be mindful to not park on private property or block streets and driveways. All Go COMO buses are ADA accessible. Roots N Blues will be providing shuttles from the garages and there are ADA shuttles available. Shuttles from downtown to the festival will be yellow school buses.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stephens Lake Park, west of the dam, will remain open for public use. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For general information about the festival and the new cashless payments system, visit </span><a href="http://rootsnbluesnbbq.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">rootsnbluesnbbq.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or download the free app, search Roots N Blues.</span></p></div>
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<p style="text-align:center;">-30-</p>
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