The most popular viewing area of the Golden Gate Bridge will be shut down to cars later this week in an attempt by officials to prevent a Super Bowl-related traffic bog down on the majestic span.
The parking lot at Vista Point, on the north end of the bridge in Marin County, will be closed from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting Friday and extending to Feb. 7 the day of the Super Bowl at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara.
With out-of-towners pouring into the Bay Area for the nations biggest sporting event of the year, bridge officials fear visitors will overwhelm the parking capacity of the 125-space lot, which is choked with tourists on the best of days.
The southeast Visitor Center parking lot will also be closed for the same period, Golden Gate Bridge District officials said in a statement.
Given the limited number of parking spaces at Vista Point, the lot fills up quickly and tourists looking for parking often circle in search of spaces leading to backups on the exit, which can extend onto the bridge.
Those conditions peaked over the holidays when bridge-goers saw hour-plus backups leading bridge district spokeswoman Priya David Clemens to call the situation unacceptable.
And that was without the Super Bowl drawing an additional 1 million people to the Bay Area.
There are still ways to get to Vista Point, officials said, so long as tourists are willing to make use of public transit. Golden Gate Transit Route 2 goes to the lot on weekday afternoons, Route 10 serves the area daily, Route 70 goes there late nights and Route 92 will get you there during weekday peak periods.
A number of hop-on, hop-off style tourist buses also serve the north end of the bridge, as well as taxis and ride shares.
