Puyallup Fair needs better exit strategy

Going to the Puyallup Fair, particularly on the last weekend, you expect some traffic problems and some traffic tie-ups.  That’s all part of the Fair Experience.

But, Saturday, we sat in the Gold Parking Lot for 1 hour and 3 minutes and moved exactly five cars lengths in that period of time.   We weren’t alone.  More than a hundred other vehicles were stopped dead in the parking lot without moving.

And, this wasn’t at quiting time.  This wasn’t at the end of a long day of enjoying the fair.  This was at 3 pm.  Hundreds of cars were still trying to get into the parking lot while a few of us were trying to get out.

I complained to the parking attendants, I complained to the parking supervisor.  I even called the fair office from the car and complained.  No one seemed to care.  I complained once, so strenuously that the attendant told me I was blocking traffic (which hadn’t moved in an hour) and that he was going to call the police.   It wasn’t the first time.  The police came several times  trying to calm irate fair exiters.

It’s obvious the fair has done a good job of getting people into the parking lots and parking thousands of cars.  They haven’t however done anything to make exiting the parking lots easier.

I intend to write the Puyallup Fair and get my $12 back.  If you suffered a similar fate, you can call the fair office at 1-253-841-5045 and complain.  Maybe you too can get your parking money back.

(Oh – we got out by eventually finding enough space to turn around and then going out the in lane, as the attendants tried to wave us to a stop.)