Cedar Point forced to turn away visitors

SANDUSKY — With huge crowds of people trying to get in, Cedar Point officials shut down roads leading to the park for hours Saturday afternoon after deciding the park could not handle any more people. The park has never had to limit the number of people trying to get in, a spokesman said.On Sunday, traffic returned to a more normal level and Sandusky police did not notice any problems.But on Saturday, the park was very busy and traffic jammed roads leading to the attraction. "Cedar Point is nearing capacity. Cedar Point Road and Cedar Point Drive have been temporarily closed. Guests currently on those roads are invited to continue to the park. More updates as they become available," the park announced on Twitter at about 3:45 p.m."Guests are invited to return tomorrow or next weekend for the last days of the season," the Twitter announcement said.In an email to the news media at 6:02 p.m., dispatchers at the Erie County Sheriff's Office announced roads leading into Cedar Point had been reopened."Cedar Point advised that all inbound traffic to Cedar Point can resume at this time. Please continue to use caution due to high traffic volumes," the email said. Sandusky police coping with a rash of fender benders and gazing at the long line of cars said Saturday's traffic jam was beyond anything they had ever witnessed."HalloWeekends has always been a very popular event, especially when weather conditions are more than ideal," Cedar Point spokesman Tony Clark wrote in an email to the Register."Today, the park initiated a capacity-based closure in order to provide a quality experience to guests attending the event," he wrote. "Guests who are unable to visit are welcome to enjoy the park tomorrow, or next weekend for the final days of the season.""To be clear, the park is still open to incoming guests already waiting. Vehicle access is closed," he explained late Saturday afternoon.Cedar Point has never had to shut down access to the park before, Clark said.Sandusky residents and Cedar Point officials already had noticed heavy traffic for HalloWeekends."Ever since HalloWeekends started in September, standstill traffic on weekends has become the norm, clogging Sandusky's main roadway arteries, namely First Street, Fifth Street, Cedar Point Drive, the Cedar Point Chaussee and Cleveland Road (U.S. 6)," the Sandusky Register reported earlier this week. "It's even a problem on Ohio 2, where traffic is severely backed up at the Rye Beach Road exit."As cars trying to get to the park stood at a dead stop near the police station Lt. Mike Campbell of the Sandusky Police Department described the park generated traffic jam in Sandusky as the worst he had ever seen."It's probably the biggest I've ever seen," Campbell said. "'It's just a lot of people trying to get into Cedar Point today."Campbell said he's seen other park-related traffic jams, although not like this."In years past, the Columbus Day holiday, there's usually a lot of people coming in on that Saturday," he said.The big traffic jam began in the late morning, Campbell said. At about 11 a.m., police started getting complaints about heavy traffic and reports of fender-bender accidents, he said."It's insanity! My husband works there full time and he's not sure when he's going to get home," a Sandusky resident told the Register.Sarah Clouse of Tiffin sat behind the wheel of her unmoving vehicle Saturday afternoon at Meigs Street and Washington Avenue, accompanied by another adult and three small children."We went a tenth of a mile maybe in 25 minutes," she said at 3:50 p.m. Saturday.She said her vehicle left Tiffin at 2:15 p.m.Clouse said good weather and a big Cedar Point sale, $99 for a season pass for this year and next year, seemed to help feed the size of the crowd.The Erie County Sheriff's Office, trying to get the word out, sent out announcements Saturday afternoon that Cedar Point Causeway and the Cedar Point Chaussee had both been closed to traffic inbound to Cedar Point. A long line of cars on Washington Avenue at the downtown Sandusky police station struggles to get into Cedar Point Saturday afternoon.