How to Get to the Belmont Stakes This Saturday: Traffic Advisory, Parking, Mass Transit Info

The 148th running of the Belmont Stakes is this weekend.

The event, expected to attract thousands, will kick off on Saturday, June 11 at the Belmont Racetrack on Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont. 

Gates will open at 8:30 a.m. and the races will be taking place from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Drivers can expect delays on Hempstead Turnpike and surrounding secondary roads throughout the day, police said.

Plainfield Avenue will be closed from Hempstead Turnpike to Vanderwater Avenue from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The parking gates will open at 8 a.m.

For those driving, here are directions to each of the parking lots:

GREEN LOT - ARRIVAL: Direct entrance from Southbound Cross Island Parkway. DEPARTURE: Exit onto Northbound Cross Island Parkway.

YELLOW LOT - ARRIVAL: Direct entrance from Northbound Cross Island Parkway. DEPARTURE: Exit onto Southbound Cross Island Parkway.

BLUE LOT - ARRIVAL: Direct entrance from Gate 8 on Plainfield Avenue. DEPARTURE: Exit Left (Northbound) onto Plainfield towards Floral Park.

PREFERRED PARKING SILVER, CLUBHOUSE AND RED LOT - ARRIVAL: Enter thru Gates 5 and 3 onto Hempstead Avenue. DEPARTURE: Exit East only from Gate 5 and West only from Gate 3 onto Hempstead Avenue.

Police suggest to those attending to the event to take mass transit.

The MTA has scheduled 18 eastbound trains to Belmont Park from Penn Station with the first train departing at 9:39 a.m. and the last at 4:32 p.m. Two other Belmont-bound trains will leave from Jamaica Station. Customers coming from Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn or traveling west from Nassau or Suffolk must change at Jamaica to catch a Belmont-bound train.

Trains will begin departing Belmont Park Station heading westbound at 4:19 p.m. with departures at 4:51 p.m., 5:18 p.m. and 5:51 p.m.

After the Stakes race, trains will depart Belmont Station as quickly as possible on a “load and go” basis until Belmont Park closes and everyone is accommodated. Those heading home via Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn or traveling east of Jamaica must change at Jamaica for their train.

LIRR customers should anticipate long lines to board trains as thousands of fans emerge from the track at once, according to the MTA.

Attendees planning on taking the bus can hope on the Q2 and Q110 buses, which will take them right to the LIRR’s Belmont Park Station. The Q2 bus connects with the F subway at 169th St., and the Q110 bus connects with the E and J subway lines at Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer.

For more info, visit: http://www.mta.info/news-belmo...

Photo: Facebook.com