#SDCC Announces Road Closures, Restrictions for Non-Badged Attendees

San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) is right around the corner, and that means those folks at the Toucan official blog of the event are gearing up with announcements and new information for attendees.

In a blog entry posted today, the Toucan revealed one of the new things this year is a full closure of Harbor Blvd (the main drag right outside the convention center) during large blocks of time during the 5 day event. The post stated:

The San Diego Convention Center, the City of San Diego and the Port of San Diego have announced a new traffic route that creates a pedestrian-only experience during Comic-Con International 2018.

HARBOR DRIVE WILL BE CLOSED TO VEHICLE TRAFFIC (including bikes, scooters and skateboards) between First Avenue and Park Boulevard during Comic-Con, with the exception of shuttle buses and emergency vehicles. Cars will be screened.

ONLY BADGED MEMBERS (attendees of Comic-Con 2018) may access the front drive, stairs and surrounding sidewalks of the San Diego Convention Center.

By closing Harbor Drive, shuttles will be allowed to load and unload passengers directly from the street.

Any exhibitor or attendee with a parking pass for the Ace Parking garage directly underneath the San Diego Convention Center will be allowed to drive through. All other drivers will be diverted away from the Convention Center.

The hours listed for the closure:

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18 (3:00 PM–9:00 PM)
THURSDAY, JULY 19 (7:00 AM–9:00 PM)
FRIDAY, JULY 20 (7:00 AM–9:00 PM)
SATURDAY, JULY 21 (7:00 AM–9:00 PM)
SUNDAY, JULY 22 (7:00 AM–7:00 PM)

The interesting thing also in that block of text being the closure of the sidewalks to non-badged attendees, which is a change from last year. SDCC has been using the tap-in-tap-out system with electronic badges for the last two years, and the ‘tap stations’ have been located at the doorways.

Does this mean there will now be tap stations beginning on the sidewalk outside the Marriott and outside the Bayfront hotels? We’ll let you know when we find out.