\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPittsburgh city officials want people from the area to come to the NFL Draft this week and not just enjoy the event, but act as ambassadors for visitors.However, a lot of people said they\u2019re staying away.\u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d said Kara Henry, who lives in the South Hills. \u201cI just think there\u2019s going to be way too many people.\u201d\u201cI\u2019m staying away,\u201d said Chatham Gongola, of Zelienople. \u201cI\u2019m avoiding the crowds, and I’m avoiding the traffic.\u201d\u201cI\u2019m not going,\u201d said Mark Chrissman, of New Bethlehem. \u201cWe\u2019re just checking everything out since I can\u2019t come down on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.\u201dMany Pittsburghers have their reasons for not wanting to see the 2026 draft with their own eyes.\u201cAll of the road closures and detours are going to be tough to navigate,\u201d Gongola said. \u201cAll of these roads closed, I\u2019m not sure how you\u2019re supposed to get off the highway from the north.\u201d\u201cI think the parking is outrageous,\u201d Chrissman said. \u201cWhy should anyone have to pay $200 to $300 to park for one night?\u201dNFL Draft in Pittsburgh >> Visit our special draft page for latest headlines and what you need to know about the draftCity officials are saying the size of the event shouldn\u2019t scare Pittsburghers from enjoying an event that was brought to the city with them in mind. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be busy. There\u2019s no doubt about that. There\u2019s going to be people coming into the downtown area every single day,” VisitPittsburgh President and CEO Jerad Bachar said. “But long as people plan ahead, there are still a lot of ways to get into downtown. There\u2019s plenty of places to park. There\u2019s going to be a lot of opportunities for people to get into the city easily.\u201dBachar added that the city has planned for this hectic week for a long time. He trusts the plan that\u2019s in place. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of free transportation options through PRT with our park-and-rides as well as the light rail,\u201d Bachar said.Some of those who are skeptical hopes it all works out. \u201cIf it sounds like things are going well, the process and plan is working, then I\u2019d certainly like to come down and see what\u2019s going on,\u201d Gongola said. \u201cI\u2019m interested in seeing how the NFL is going to present Pittsburgh. Hopefully, all of the people have a good time and enjoy themselves here.\u201d \u201cEven if you\u2019re not a football fan, it\u2019s worth coming down to see the biggest, most iconic event the city\u2019s ever hosted,\u201d Bachar said. \u201cWe are the best ambassadors for our city. Our hospitality in Pittsburgh is what we are known for.\u201dFor all of the transportation maps and road closures, click here. It\u2019s also on the NFL OnePass app, which you need to attend the draft. Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tPITTSBURGH \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh city officials want people from the area to come to the NFL Draft<\/a> this week and not just enjoy the event, but act as ambassadors for visitors<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, a lot of people said they\u2019re staying away.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d said Kara Henry, who lives in the South Hills. \u201cI just think there\u2019s going to be way too many people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m staying away,\u201d said Chatham Gongola, of Zelienople. \u201cI\u2019m avoiding the crowds, and I’m avoiding the traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going,\u201d said Mark Chrissman, of New Bethlehem. \u201cWe\u2019re just checking everything out since I can\u2019t come down on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n Many Pittsburghers have their reasons for not wanting to see the 2026 draft with their own eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of the road closures and detours are going to be tough to navigate,\u201d Gongola said. \u201cAll of these roads closed, I\u2019m not sure how you\u2019re supposed to get off the highway from the north.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think the parking is outrageous,\u201d Chrissman said. \u201cWhy should anyone have to pay $200 to $300 to park for one night?\u201d<\/p>\n NFL Draft in Pittsburgh >> Visit our special draft page for latest headlines and what you need to know about the draft<\/a><\/p>\n City officials are saying the size of the event shouldn\u2019t scare Pittsburghers from enjoying an event that was brought to the city with them in mind. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be busy. There\u2019s no doubt about that. There\u2019s going to be people coming into the downtown area every single day,” VisitPittsburgh President and CEO Jerad Bachar said. “But long as people plan ahead, there are still a lot of ways to get into downtown. There\u2019s plenty of places to park. There\u2019s going to be a lot of opportunities for people to get into the city easily.\u201d<\/p>\n Bachar added that the city has planned for this hectic week for a long time. He trusts the plan that\u2019s in place. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of free transportation options through PRT with our park-and-rides as well as the light rail,\u201d Bachar said.<\/p>\n Some of those who are skeptical hopes it all works out. <\/p>\n \u201cIf it sounds like things are going well, the process and plan is working, then I\u2019d certainly like to come down and see what\u2019s going on,\u201d Gongola said. \u201cI\u2019m interested in seeing how the NFL is going to present Pittsburgh. Hopefully, all of the people have a good time and enjoy themselves here.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cEven if you\u2019re not a football fan, it\u2019s worth coming down to see the biggest, most iconic event the city\u2019s ever hosted,\u201d Bachar said. \u201cWe are the best ambassadors for our city. Our hospitality in Pittsburgh is what we are known for.\u201d<\/p>\n For all of the transportation maps and road closures, click here. <\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s also on the NFL OnePass app<\/a>, which you need to attend the draft. <\/p>\n Download the WTAE app<\/a> to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters<\/a> to get breaking news in your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh city officials want people from the area to come to the NFL Draft this week and not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[21746,2088,76964,76965,79,5609,2922,3537,7700,523,73,28982,75,74,5608,6654,76963,5865],"class_list":{"0":"post-171444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-ambassador","9":"tag-area","10":"tag-bachar","11":"tag-chatham-gongola","12":"tag-city","13":"tag-event","14":"tag-lot","15":"tag-nfl-draft","16":"tag-park","17":"tag-people","18":"tag-pittsburgh","19":"tag-pittsburgh-city-official","20":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","21":"tag-pittsburgh-news","22":"tag-place","23":"tag-road-closure","24":"tag-travel-plan","25":"tag-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}