Bills game parking: Get there early, but not too early

Really early.

In retrospect, it might have been TOO early.

That’s why Orchard Park is asking if you can maybe have another cup of coffee before you leave home, and take your time getting to the game with the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. It might save you a few headaches from waiting in traffic, and it would help cut down on congestion.

“We saw a buildup of cars arriving much earlier than the parking lots open,” Orchard Park Police Chief Patrick M. Fitzgerald said.

As a result of vehicles waiting in line on the roads around Highmark Stadium, there was gridlock 45 minutes to an hour before the lots opened, he said.

“It hurts everything. It hurts not only the people trying to arrive for the game, but it hurts emergency resources as we’re trying to respond to calls,” the police chief said.

And not only that, it hampers efforts to get employees into the stadium, he said.

While the construction of the new stadium across Abbott Road from Highmark Stadium took over some Bills parking areas, the Bills shifted some parking, and they say there are just as many spaces as last year.

Lot 3, which had been used for staff parking on game days, is open to fans. The Bills bought the former Mud Lot on Big Tree Road near the stadium, put a surface down and use it for employees to park.

Bills parking lots open at 9 a.m., while private lot opening times may vary.

Some private lots close to the stadium filled up quickly two weeks ago. Eric Matwijow, owner of Hammer’s Lot, said he filled up within 15 minutes.

Fans encountered traffic jams around the stadium from cars waiting to get into parking lots.

“Because the traffic was backed up so far so early, there were residents parking cars who have never parked cars,” Fitzgerald said.

But there were enough spaces, even if fans couldn’t find them.

“There were hundreds of open spots left in the Bills parking lots,” Fitzgerald said. “There shouldn’t be a concern about not getting enough parking spots.”

Fitzgerald also wants fans to know the town has an open container law, making it “unlawful for any person to be in possession of an open container upon any public street, way, thoroughfare, sidewalk, or other town-owned property within the Town of Orchard Park.”