'Vehicles off the streets': Coachella apologises after 12-hour traffic chaos, pledges major fixes for weekend 2

After chaotic traffic delays during Weekend 1 of Coachella, organisers issued an apology and promised improvements.

After a chaotic start to Weekend 1, the organisers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have issued a public apology for the massive traffic delays that left thousands of campers stuck in hours-long gridlock. Frustrated festivalgoers took to social media to share their experiences, prompting Goldenvoice to acknowledge the logistical failures and pledge swift improvements ahead of Weekend 2.

The Coachella Festival's organisers issued an apology for severe traffic issues that affected campers. REUTERS/Daniel Cole(REUTERS)

Coachella issues apology in response to the traffic complaints

George Cunningham, who is the vice president of public safety, along with Goldenvoice, voiced their dilemma and the following steps taken to resolve the issue during the La Quinta City Council meeting on Tuesday. This comes after the attendees raised complaints over massive traffic, with a wait time of 12 hours to get to the Empire Polo Club on April 10 as vehicles mounted up on the surrounding roads, especially on Madison and Monroe streets.

Cunningham said, “Every year, we typically have a lull (on Thursday) between 1:00 and 6:00 in the evening, where it just dies down. We didn't have that. Everybody wanted to come early,” as reported by USA Today. He explained that DJ Chris Lake’s performance on the campgrounds on Thursday resulted in the crowd arriving earlier than expected. Because of his set, he noted that there were 6,300 campers in the campgrounds, while usually they don’t arrive until the late hours of the festival.

Cunningham added that the festival also suffered from what he called “staffing challenges” with several of the 32 security tolling stations left unmanned Thursday morning, traffic quickly spiralled into a frustrating standstill for arriving campers. He said, “We had six tolls that were down. We have addressed that. We have plans if the entity, the partner that we work with that staffs those, is unable to meet it at that shift time, we already have a secondary plan in place to be able to augment that and have that staffed with other individuals.”

Will there be better arrangements for Coachella weekend 2?

To prevent a repeat of last weekend’s gridlock, Goldenvoice is adding 12 more tollbooths for security checks at Lot 2A near Madison Street and Avenue 50. The extra staffing will be in place not just for Coachella Weekend 2, but also for Stagecoach, the upcoming country music festival run by the same organisers.

Cunningham said, “We're going to get (the vehicles) off the streets, and we're going to get them in lots so we can lessen the impact on the community.” He added, “Am I guaranteeing that there is not going to be 100% no impact? No, I can't give you that guarantee, but I can give you a guarantee that the impact will be many times less than you witnessed this past Thursday.”

He added that the plan will be reviewed with a potential of it being altered even for the Stagecoach, which is scheduled for April 25 to April 27 at the same venue, if arrangements “are not to the standard that we need them to be.”