How logistics made hosting the big game in Atlanta a success
By: David Caraviello
The maneuver was referred to as “green carpet,” and it required as much teamwork and coordination as any play that occurred during Super Bowl week. Police escorts radioed to traffic engineers in a command center that New England’s buses were ready to roll, and one by one, 15 intersection signals were flipped green to keep the entourage moving. The result was an unimpeded trip from the Patriots’ downtown hotel to their practice facility at Georgia Tech.
The same courtesy was extended to the Los Angeles Rams, to team cheerleaders en route to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, to media members on their way to press conferences, and to VIPs bound for Super Bowl LIII. And that was just part of a massive effort by traffic engineers, consulting firms, public safety officers and others to keep buses, cars and pedestrians all moving on the biggest sports week downtown Atlanta had seen in decades.
“This was not just to get Tom Brady to and from Georgia Tech a couple of minutes faster. It’s also a safety concern,” says Sean Coleman, who quarterbacked the effort for engineering firm Kimley-Horn, the lead consultant to the city. “It helps not only the vehicles there, that don’t see a green light in the opposing direction, and all of a sudden a bus flies through. And it’s also safer for the officers because they don’t have to put themselves out there in every single intersection and stop traffic.” Read More
