Pack Your Picnic: Info on Tonight’s Fireworks Show
Thousands are expected to flock to Auditorium Shores for the Austin Symphony July 4th Concert and Fireworks.
The symphony will start its performance at 8:30 p.m. The fireworks show will run from 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
If you’re planning to attend, leave behind all alcohol, glass and Styrofoam. Smoking is not allowed and neither is grilling – because of the number of people expected to be at Auditorium Shores.
Several streets will be closed for the event. The portion of Riverside Drive that runs through Auditorium Shores will be closed beginning at 10 this morning. Cesar Chavez will be closed from MoPac to Guadalupe starting at 3 this afternoon. And South 1st Street will be shut down from Cesar Chavez to Barton Springs Road starting at 9 p.m.
The city has put together a list of suggested parking places. The MetroRail will not be running but several Capital Metro bus routes serve Auditorium Shores including: 1L/1M, 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, 30, 338, and the Night Owls.
Pack Your Suitcase: Travel Up Around Holiday
AAA Texas says nearly three million Texans will travel this week to celebrate Independence Day.
But since the holiday fell mid-week this year, the travel rush is split in two: the automobile club believes 54 percent of travelers left over the weekend and the other 46 percent left Monday, Tuesday or will leave today.
Most Texas travelers – 2.5 million – are driving to their destination. AAA Texas believes falling gas prices have something to do with that. The average price of a gallon of unleaded is now $3.16. The average price in the Austin area is $3.15
Seventy-five percent of Texans will be taking at least one summer trip – that’s according to a recent AAA Texas poll of members.
Pack Your Patience: Boat Ramp Closures
If you’re taking a boat to Lake Travis for the Fourth of July, plan ahead. All lanes of the Mansfield Dam Boat Ramp are open, but that’s it. Low water levels mean the other ten of the 11 boat ramps at Lake Travis monitored by the Lower Colorado River Authority are closed.
Lake Travis currently sits at just over 640 feet. Most ramps require at least 650 feet for safe operation.
Lower than average levels at Lake Buchanan are also affecting boat ramp openings there. Just one of four ramps, White Bluff Park, is open.
Ramps are open at Lake Marble Falls, Lake LBJ, and Inks Lake.
