Many of those travelling to the Stadium of Light will be visiting the city for the first time, so partners across the city led by Sunderland City Council and Sunderland AFC have been working hard to make sure that their journeys and visits are hopefully as enjoyable as the match itself.
Traffic, parking and public transport tactics have all been agreed and practised as part of the pre-kick strategy, to help make sure that the capacity crowd can get to and from the Stadium without any problems.
Sunderland City Council Portfolio Holder for Public Health, Wellness and Culture, Councillor John Kelly said: “We are all pulling together as team in Sunderland, to make sure that everyone travelling to our city to watch the match has a fantastic time while they’re here.
“This includes helping people to plan their journeys and make their travel arrangements well in advance, so they can arrive in good time to enjoy themselves in the city centre and Fan Zone at the Stadium of Light.
“Equally important is making sure that after the match, and hopefully an England win, they can get travel home without any worries or delays.”
Latest team news from Sunderland is that the University of Sunderland is making more than 900 car parking spaces available, to add to the 3,500 spaces already available at Sunderland City Council On/off-street car parking and privately run car park parks within walking distance of the city centre and the ground (www.sunderland.gov.uk/parking ).
The best routes into the city for motorists will be well signposted, with police and council traffic management officers on hand along the way to offer help and advice to drivers including tow-trucks for broken down vehicles.
Pre-match information is also available online at www.safc.com/england and www.thefa.com to help ease congestion before and after the match, with drivers advised to follow road signs rather than their sat-navs.
Motorists are also advised to give themselves plenty of time to get into the city for the 7.45pm kick off. There are roadworks on European Way in Pallion, and part of the A1231 is down to one lane in each direction because of construction work on the new Wear Crossing with delays expected in both areas.
The main messages for drivers are;
North: From the A19 and follow signs for A1231 Sunderland, then yellow signs for Park & Ride and use the Park & Ride service
Alternatively, from the A19 follow signs for A184 Sunderland (North), then either; Roker Seafront or City Centre and use car parks
South: From the A19 follow signs for A1018 Sunderland, then signs for City Centre and use City Centre Car Parks
From the A1(M) follow signs for A690 Sunderland, then signs for City Centre and use City Centre Car Parks
West: From the A183 follow signs for Sunderland, then signs for City Centre and use City Centre Car Parks
From the A690 follow signs for Sunderland, then signs for City Centre and use City Centre Car Parks
From A1231 follow signs for Sunderland, then yellow signs for Park & Ride and use the Park & Ride service
Parking is also available St Peter’s Campus (15min Walk) and seafront car parks (20min Walk) which are signposted via the main roads.
While many people will be travelling by car, there will also be a large number using public transport so an equal amount of planning has gone into meeting their needs.
Tyne and Wear Metro services are geared up to meet demand. Extra Metro services will be running between Newcastle and Sunderland augmenting the normal service between 9.30pm and just after11pm.
The last train time to Newcastle from the Stadium of Light will leave as normal at 12am (midnight).
A special event Metro ticket is available in advance from all Metro ticket machines. This will save fans the hassle of having to queue at the machines on the day of the game.
The ticket is available on the Metro ticket machine by pressing the ‘other tickets’ option on the touchscreen.
Further information can be found at www.nexus.org.uk
Go North East is providing enhanced services around the Stadium of Light to areas including South Tyneside before and after the match (www.simplygo.com/safcconcerts