Parking tips for NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament - Second Round at Moda Center (Portland 03/21)

college hoops is finally coming back to the moda center on 03/21 and honestly the energy is going to be through the roof for the second round games but let me tell you the parking situation around the rose quarter is usually a total nightmare for big tournaments like this especially when everyone is trying to squeeze into the same few streets at the same time

if you want to avoid the massive headache of the official garages i really recommend using Prked to find a spot it is an app where you can rent out private driveways or garage spots from people who live right near the arena it is way cheaper than the venue prices and you get a guaranteed spot that lets you skip the massive line of cars trying to crawl out of the official lots after the final buzzer plus it is usually just a short walk and much more relaxed than fighting for a space in a crowded garage

for the official options the garden garage is the one attached directly to the arena but it is easily the most expensive and fills up way before tipoff usually costing around thirty to forty dollars for event sessions if you park there try to get a spot on level p3 for the ada entrance or near the exits if you want any chance of leaving quickly the other official spots are the east broadway garage west broadway garage and the annex garage which are all within a five minute walk but still get very backed up coming off the i-5 exits and the steel bridge

if you are looking for a budget move the benton surface lot is usually the cheapest official lot but it only has about ninety spaces so it is gone instantly for oversized vehicles like rvs or buses that is pretty much your only official choice and it runs about forty dollars another solid alternative is the oregon convention center garage which is about a ten minute walk away and usually less of a mess to exit than the ones right at the rose quarter you can also check out the lloyd center tower lot or private lots on ne grand and ne 9th ave where you can sometimes snag a spot for under ten dollars if you do not mind a fifteen minute walk

be super careful with street parking in the lloyd district because they activate special event rates when the crowd is over ten thousand people this means the normal meter rate jumps up to around five dollars an hour and enforcement stays active until 10 pm so you cannot just wait for the meters to expire halfway through the game also watch out for the zone v permit areas in the nearby eliot neighborhood since portland parking enforcement is really aggressive during the tournament and they will definitely ticket you if you do not have the right permit

honestly if you want to skip the driving entirely the max light rail is probably the smartest strategy in the city the blue green red and yellow lines all stop at the rose quarter transit center right in front of the moda center you can park for free at the sunset transit center or clackamas town center and just ride the train in for a few bucks just a heads up that the trains get absolutely packed after the game so you might have to wait for one or two to pass before you can hop on

traffic patterns are always a mess starting about two hours before the session starts so i would definitely try to be in the area by 11/21 standards at least ninety minutes early if you are driving also standard city rules apply here so do not leave anything visible in your car because break-ins are unfortunately pretty common in the surface lots around the north and east side of the arena hope this helps and have an awesome time at the games