Coachella Campers Roll In Smoothly as Festival Weekend Approaches

Thousands of campers are already making their way to the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio this morning, kicking off what will be a packed three-day weekend as the first round of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival opens Friday.

NBC Palm Springs reporter Brett Rosen was on the ground along Avenue 52 Thursday morning and found a noticeably calmer scene than last year, when campers arrived in such numbers that the area locked up for hours. This year, festival organizers added a second toll booth entry on the north side of the venue, complementing the existing south side lane. That change, which was also used during Coachella Weekend Two and Stagecoach last year, appeared to make a real difference. "I thought we would be stuck still for like a long time, but it's not too bad right now," one camper told Rosen. "Last year I heard it was really, really bad and everyone was complaining."

Even with the smoother morning, residents near the polo grounds should plan accordingly. Indio Community Services Manager Jim Curtis laid out what to expect this week, describing the festival as "a city within a city" when it comes to congestion.

For Thursday, the main backup will run along Jefferson and Monroe streets and could stretch as far back as the interstate through early afternoon. Officials recommend avoiding both streets entirely if possible today.

Once the festival opens Friday, Washington Street joins the mix, particularly near the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where attendees pick up wristbands and board shuttles to the grounds. Washington congestion will be heaviest on Friday and ease up as the weekend goes on. On all three festival days, the worst of the traffic will hit between 3 and 8 p.m., as concert-goers head out for the evening sets. Alternate routes to consider include Avenue 48, Avenue 52, Avenue 54, and Highway 111.

Late nights will bring their own slowdowns, with outbound traffic expected from around midnight to 3 a.m. each night as tens of thousands of people head back to hotels and rentals.

For those leaving the valley entirely on Monday, the advice is simple: get on Interstate 10 heading west before 9 a.m. Once camper traffic hits the on-ramps, the freeway is expected to be gridlocked for most of the day. The exit flow should mostly clear by around 11:30 a.m.

For live traffic updates throughout the weekend, visit cv-sync.com.