With the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials starting and the College World Series finishing up next week, the Omaha Police Department and officials at Century Link said they are ready for the overlap of thousands of fans.
The swim trials started on Sunday and the crowds has an easy time with parking and getting across to the Century Link Center, but Monday, Tuesday, and maybe Wednesday, the College World Series will also be going on.
“Which means we will have roughly 38,000 to 40,000 people at both of events in downtown Omaha at the same time,” said Director for Marketing, Kristi Andersen.
Four years ago the same situation happened with the two events overlapping, and Omaha Police said they are ready to do it again.
“It is nice we have been through this already, we can take what we learned in 2012 and use it to our advantage this year,” said Officer Michael Pecha.
One big thing they will need from everyone is patience and to plan ahead.
“MECA parking will primarily be utilized for College World Series fans, so we will have very limited parking for swim fans Monday night, Tuesday night, and possibly Wednesday night,” said Andersen.
While there are thousands of spaces around the downtown area, there is also a shuttle for those going to the swim trials.
“Mutual of Omaha has graciously offered up their employee lot for swim trial parking, and then they will give you a free shuttle you, can take down to the Century Link Center, hop back on after the trials are over, and head back to your car,” said Andersen.
She also added that they suggest people arrive a few hours early to either the game or the swim trials. The Aqua Zone, Family Fun Zone, and Baseball Village will all be open to kill time.
