Super Bowl traffic: Roads filling up, but no gridlock

Traffic around Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara was heavy Sunday afternoon, as cars and a convoy of tour buses slowly but surely made their way to the nation’s biggest sporting event.

Several roads around the stadium were backed up, including the Lawrence Expressway and Great America Parkway, and some of the exits off Highway 101 were congested, according to reports from drivers and the California Highway Patrol.

[...] most freeways in the South Bay were moving relatively smoothly as game time approached, said CHP Officer Ross Lee — a testament to the many advance measures taken to avert a traffic crush.

“A lot of different agencies have been putting out information, advising people that if you have the opportunity to use public transportation, that would be a good option,” Lee said.

Fans said the law enforcement presence was large and security was tight, but there were no major hassles.

“It showed up right away and we walked right up,” said Pecko, who took the roughly 20-minute ride with a friend from Mountain View to a stop less than 100 feet from a Super Bowl security checkpoint.

Hundreds of private charter buses took spectators to the game, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency light-rail service in the Levi’s Stadium area was limited to game ticket-holders, and no one without a ticket was allowed near the stadium.

Ride-services company Uber secured an exclusive contract with the NFL to provide rides to and from the Super Bowl.