Seaside lays out communications and traffic plans ahead of Car Week crowds

With Car Week starting in the region, Seaside staff presented the city’s communications, outreach and traffic plans and described steps to help residents and local businesses prepare for heavy visitor volumes.

Assistant City Manager Dan Milas told the council the city expects a large influx of visitors: "we are anticipating over 100,000 visitors to our region," and staff estimated visitor spending across the Peninsula could top $130 million. Milas summarized the event run-sheet for Seaside (Automobilia Collector’s Expo, the Paddock at the golf course, Concorso Italiano, and exotics events on Broadway) and said staff have prepared traffic advisories and shuttle plans.

The presentation covered business outreach and listening sessions, temporary closures (with updated Google Maps routing), designated shuttle drop-off locations, and an after-action report to evaluate traffic and economic metrics. Councilmembers asked about shuttle drop-off points, parking allocations, and enforcement of illegal curb-blocking and private parking charges during the event; staff said drop-offs will be on Fremont and that ongoing coordination with the county and event producers is in place.

Mayor Pro Tem and councilmembers praised staff’s outreach and asked staff to continue refining parking plans and information for neighborhoods, including officer enforcement if vehicles block driveways.

What’s next: staff said daily updates will be posted during the week of events, and an after-action report will be presented to council with metrics and lessons learned.