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Here's how to get around the 2022 Austin City Limits Music Festival

Austin City Limits Music Festival attracts thousands of folks to Zilker Park each October.
Gabriel C. Pérez
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KUT
Austin City Limits Music Festival attracts thousands of folks to Zilker Park each October.

It's here. The massive two-weekend festival that brings thousands of folks from across the world to Central Austin. Nope. Not that one. It's the one in the fall — ACL Fest.

If you're attending, the City of Austin encourages you to avoid taking a car, and there are plenty of options for how to do that. If you're not going, you'll need to keep an eye out for road closures. Here's a rundown of everything you need to know.

Road Closures

Barton Springs Road and Stratford Drive will be partially or completely blocked off for weekend one of the festival, starting Oct. 6 through Oct. 9. For weekend two, it will start shutting down Oct. 13 through Oct. 9. Azie Morton Road, Sterzing Street, Toomey Road and Jessie Street will also be shut down on those same dates for both weekends. Sterzing Street and Toomey Road will be accessible for residents with parking permits.

Downtown, Fourth Street between Nueces and Guadalupe streets will close Oct. 7–9 and Oct. 14–16 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. to make way for the CapMetro shuttles at Republic Square Park.

Here's a full breakdown of road closures from the city.

City of Austin
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City of Austin

Bus service

The festival partners with CapMetro to shuttle ACL attendees to and from the festival every year. Pickup is at Republic Square Park starting at 10 a.m. both weekends, with the last shuttle leaving Zilker at 11 p.m.

The 801 and 803 routes, along with a couple others, will still operate at their usual stops at the park.

Capital Metro’s MetroRapid 803 route provides direct service to the area at its Barton Springs Station. Several other routes will operate within a block of the Republic Square shuttle site. Routes 30 and 4 will be detoured as a result of the festival, according to CapMetro.

System-wide, service will be extended to 11 p.m. both weekends of the festival.

Pedicabs

You can catch a Pedicab near the entrance to the festival at the corner of Barton Springs and Azie Morton.

Bikes

There are 75 CapMetro MetroBike docks citywide. The transit authority will have a bike valet kiosk for dropoffs at Barton Springs Road and Sterzing Street over both weekends of the festival.

Below is a map of all the MetroBike stations in town.

If you're taking your own bike, there are bike racks near the festival entrance. One spot is just west of Zilker on Stratford. Another is off Azie Morton to the south. There's another rack at the CapMetro bike dock on Toomey Road.

Scooters

You can find them pretty much everywhere, as Austinites are wont to complain. But there will be a couple spots for riders to drop off their scooters: One spot north of Lady Bird Lake at Veterans Drive, another off Azie Morton south of Barton Springs Road and another at Toomey Road. There's another spot across Lamar at Lee Barton Drive.

Taxis and ride-hailing

You can hail a cab or wait for a rideshare off Veterans Drive north of Lady Bird Lake. There's another designated spot just west of the festivities at Lee Barton Drive and another one south at Wallingwood Drive. The city's transportation office says there will be a five-minute maximum for folks waiting to get a ride.

Parking

We saved the worst for last.

Parking during ACL is — objectively — one of the most soul-splintering experiences in the catalog of human experience that one can endure. But, try as Austin might, this is a car town, and cars need parking spots.

The city has put together a map of all the available parking — mostly paid garages and lots — for those willing to brave the traffic.

Andrew Weber is a general assignment reporter for KUT, focusing on criminal justice, policing, courts and homelessness in Austin and Travis County. Got a tip? You can email him at aweber@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @England_Weber.
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