Ready to rally
20,000 expected to assemble at Pine Trails Park
Whether you will be joining Saturday’s local March for Our Lives rally at Parkland’s Pine Trails Park or simply traveling through the area, there are some parking and safety tips that will be good to know along the route.
On Saturday, organizers of the local March for Our Lives rally in Parkland expect some 20,000 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School teenagers, families and allies of the #NeverAgain movement to assemble at Pine Trails Park.
It’s a crush of visitors so massive that the student-run rally has scrambled to secure offsite parking, since Trails Park, whose lots can’t handle visitors in the thousands, will be closed to car traffic. A ramped-up police presence will mean road closures surrounding the park to free up space for marchers, said Todd DeAngelis, Parkland’s city spokesman.
“Bottom line, it’s a regional-size event in a community park,” DeAngelis said. “Even though it’s an 80-acre park, there’s no easy way to handle all of the traffic we expect to get.”
Since the Feb. 14 massacre of 17 Stoneman Douglas students and faculty, Pine Trails Park has become a symbolic rallying point for students and victims, a home to protests, prayer vigils and memorials. It’s also the venue of choice for those not attending the main March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel will feature live coverage of these March for Our Lives events this Saturday, with reporters in Washington, D.C., and at local sister marches in Parkland and Boca Raton. Go to the Sun Sentinel’s Facebook page starting at 10 a.m. and follow along
with live video as Stoneman Douglas students fight for school safety and tougher gun-control legislation. The Washington, D.C., march begins at noon, and events in Parkland and Boca Raton will kick off at 10 a.m.
Here’s all you need to know about Parkland’s March for Our Lives event.
The march
The New York-based nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety donated $150,000 to student organizers to cover costs of the Parkland march, including extra police and free shuttles to and from offsite parking, DeAngelis said.
The march will begin assemble at Pine Trails Park (10555 Trails End, Parkland) starting at 10 a.m. After speeches from invited guests in the park, the march will get going at noon. The march’s route is a two-mile loop along Pine Island Road connecting the park to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (5901 NW Pine Island Road, Parkland). The march ends at 2 p.m. Arrive early to the park.
Parking
There are four offsite park-and-shuttle areas offering free rides to and from the Parkland march. Shuttles will run 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. before the march. Shuttles back to the lots will start at 2 p.m. They are:
Lockhart Stadium, 1350 NW 55th St., Fort Lauderdale.
Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
There will be 5,500 parking spaces in lots 1, 2, 4, 5, 27, and 28, and in parking garages 1, 2 and 3.
Coral Springs City Hall, 9500 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs
Parkland Equestrian Center, 8350 Ranch Road, Parkland
Only Parkland residents will have access to limited parking.
For those using rideshares such as Uber and Lyft, there’s a drop-off area at Trails End Boulevard east of the Pine Trails Park entrance.
For those with out-oftown buses, drop-off will be at Heron Heights Elementary School, 11010 Nob Hill Road, Parkland. Her
Drivers with disabled permits can use the limited handicapped parking inside Pine Trails Park.
Safety
Along with the Broward Sheriff ’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol and officers from police departments in Coral Springs and Coconut Creek will assist with the march. The Coral Springs Fire Department will also be on hand. Roads will be closed at: Pine Island Road from Westview Drive to Nob Hill Road.
Trails End Boulevard from Pine Island Road to the eastern edge of Pine Trails Park.
Holmberg Road from the Westglades Middle School roundabout to the eastern edge of Pine Island Road.
What to bring/what not to bring
Travel light and pack only the essentials: Snacks, water bottles, sunscreen, comfortable shoes. Food trucks and portable bathrooms will be on site. Strollers for children and baby supplies are allowed. Don’t bring bags or backpacks (unless they’re clear plastic), golf carts, selfie sticks or weapons of any kind.