SANTA CLARA — Early traffic to Levi’s Stadium appeared to run smoothly as soccer fans drove or took public transportation to an international match on a very busy Saturday afternoon in Silicon Valley. It was unclear late Saturday how the postgame exit turned out.
“So far everything is going well — fantastic,” Santa Clara police Lt. Kirk Clarke said shortly after the brand-new stadium’s parking lots opened in midafternoon. He and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority officials could not be reached for comment after the game. The VTA runs light-rail trains to and from the stadium.
The sold-out match between Mexico and Chile featured two national squads that made it into the prestigious group of 16 at this summer’s World Cup tournament in Brazil. Saturday’s game ended in a scoreless tie. It was the first international soccer game at Levi’s — and another test of the transportation and parking systems that debuted badly in early August but have been improving with every event.
Mexico fan Martin Lopez was one of the first to arrive. He was hosting a tailgate party as fans began to stream in hours before the 7 p.m. start of the match.
“Right now traffic is light, not too bad yet,” Lopez told this newspaper via Twitter.
Officials of the San Francisco 49ers and local transportation and law enforcement agencies were expected to watch the postgame exit closely because most fans were expected to leave the game at about the same time. The stadium’s debut Aug. 2, also a soccer game, was marred by long waits for trains and jammed automobile exits.
Local police and transportation officials braced for a long day and night. In addition to the soccer game, an art and wine festival and rock concert in Mountain View and a football game at Stanford University were expected to pour thousands of extra motorists and passengers onto local roads, highways and train lines.
Contact Joe Rodriguez at 408-920-5767. Follow him at Twitter.com/joerodmercury.