Your complete guide to the Super Bowl parade: Road closures, parking, map and more
The Kansas City Chiefs have now won back-to-back Super Bowls, and it’s time for their fans and city to party.
“LET’S HAVE A PARADE WEDNESDAY,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime in Super Bowl LVIII Sunday night.
Kansas City, Kansas City Sports Commission and the Kansas City Chiefs will hold the Chiefs Kingdom Champions Parade and victory rally beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday in downtown.
“We are so excited for this parade, not just to celebrate the Chiefs, although we are thrilled to celebrate them and welcome them home later this afternoon, but also Kansas City to celebrate all of you, to celebrate the commitment to your team, to building an outstanding community, the workers who helped us put this event on. And, more than anything, how great it is to be in Kansas City in 2024 . May we run it back in the future and may we have one heck of a parade coming up on Wednesday,” Lucas said during a news conference Monday afternoon at Union Station.
While wearing a red and yellow friendship bracelet, Lucas said he could not comment on Taylor Swift’s whereabouts on parade day, but KCPD Chief Stacey Graves said that officers are absolutely prepared for a change in security, including over 600 Kansas City police officers, plus 250 officers from around 34 other law enforcement agencies as well as federal partners.
“Stay tuned. It’s a reason to watch the parade on Wednesday and for everybody for to come on out,” Lucas said.
Here’s your complete guide to the festivities.
The parade, which begins an hour earlier than last year’s celebration, will follow a two-mile long parade starting at Grand Boulevard and Sixth Street. It will head south on Grand to Pershing Road, where it will turn west and end after turning north onto Main Street at Union Station.
The parade is expected to last 1 1/2 hours, according to the Kansas City Sports Commission.
The victory rally will start approximately at 12:45 p.m., shortly after the parade ends. It will be in front of Union Station, with the National WWI Museum and Memorial hosting viewing opportunities on its north lawn.
“I want to congratulate the Kansas City Chiefs on another well-earned Super Bowl victory,” Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC, said in a news release. “The excitement generated by the Chiefs and Chiefs Kingdom continues creating opportunities for Kansas City to reach a wider audience than ever before, bringing economic opportunity to our entire region.”
When, what roads will close?
Kansas City will begin shutting down streets in downtown, Crossroads and Crown Center areas Monday with the closing of West Pershing Road from Main Street to Kessler Road in front of Union Station, according to the parade website.
Other road closures will begin along the parade route at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The closures affect streets running east and west of Grand between Walnut and McGee streets from Sixth Street on the north to Pershing Road on the south.
Union Station also will close to the public at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, reopening at about 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Main Street will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians on Wednesday from 20th Street to Pershing Road. Main from Pershing to 27th Street will also be closed to vehicles, but open to pedestrians. Additional closures on Main from 27th to 31st will be in effect when the parade starts.
Vehicles will be able to cross at the following locations until 8 a.m. Wednesday:
Seventh and Admiral Boulevard
Truman Road North and South
18th Street
12th Street, until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday.
13th Street until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday
Pedestrians will be able to cross the parade route on Grand at several locations marked by large red feather flags indicating a crosswalk. Those crossings are at:
Ninth Street
13th Street
Truman Road
18th Street
20th Street
Drivers are advised to avoid areas along and around the parade route, including Grand, Pershing and Main. They should also use alternate routes and allow for extra time while traveling in the area.
People headed into the area on Wednesday should expect significant travel delays along with additional road closures or lane restrictions. Streets will reopen as conditions allow.
Shuttles, Streetcar and parking info
Fans looking to leave their cars behind will have several options to get to and from the parade and rally.
The Kansas City Streetcar will be operating, although the Union Station stop will be closed at the end of regular service on Tuesday. Instead, passengers will exit at the Crossroads southbound stop at 19th and Main streets. Northbound passengers will board at the Crossroads northbound stop.
The streetcar will start its regularly schedule service at 6 a.m. and will operate with 10 to 12 minute frequencies until 10:30 a.m. Then, it will suspend service until the end of the parade and rally. Streetcar service will resume once tracks are clear between 20th Street and Pershing Road.
The streetcar will post a notice once service resumes on its website, social media channels and text alert service. People can sign up for the service by texting “streetcar” to 816-685-8541.
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority will run shuttles from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday. Riders are advised to allow for possible wait times at park and ride locations — up to 45 minutes at popular locations.
Here’s where the park and ride locations and their pickup and drop-off locations will be:
Former K-Mart at Chouteau and Vivion, 2835 N.E. Vivion Road, Kansas City, North. Shuttle pickup and drop-off: Truman Road and Lydia Street.
HyVee Arena/West Bottoms, 1800 Genessee St., Kansas City. Shuttle pickup and drop-off: 18th Street and Troost Avenue.
Swope Park/Zoo, 6800 Zoo Drive, Kansas City. Shuttle pickup and drop-off: 31st Street and Gillham Road.
Oak Park Mall at 95th Street and Neiman Road, 11149 W. 95th St, Overland Park. Shuttle pickup and drop-off: Avenida Cesar E Chavez and Southwest Boulevard.
47th Street and State Transit Center, 849 N. 47th St, Kansas City, Kansas. Buses will pick up and drop off at Hy-Vee Arena, where passengers will make a transfer to RideKC buses to 18th and Troost.
Fans looking to drive themselves and others to the festivities should be aware that parking restrictions go into effect at 11 a.m. Tuesday and continue into Wednesday evening.
Temporary “No Parking” zones will be in place and vehicles parked there will be towed at owner’s expense. Cars parked on the highways around downtown will also be towed. For those whose vehicles have been towed, they can call 816-513-0688 for the locations.
Most parking lots around the parade route will charge for parking, including National WWI Museum and Memorial, Union Station and Crown Center. Check their websites for more details.
Riders on scooters and bicycles will not be permitted to ride where roads are closed. They are also advised to be mindful of pedestrians and not to ride on sidewalks.
Public safety, security
The perimeter of the parade will be secured for public safety. Fans can help by staying aware of their surroundings and reporting suspicious activity to a police officer or calling 911.
No drones, rocket, powered balloons, ultralights or model aircraft will be permitted, regardless whether they are controlled by line of sight, radio frequency or tethers. Violates may be prosecuted and fined for violating FAA restricted airspace.
Fans should also not leave bags unattended and report any unattended bags to police and be aware that cell phone reception may be extremely limited.
Spectators should also plan their travel and parking ahead and be prepared to walk as road closures near the parade route are expected lead to congested road conditions.
People are also advised to have a plan in place in case they get separated from others in their group, including having designated points to meet and photos showing what people are wearing. Children should have contact information for their parents or guardians.
People separated from their group are encourage to find a police officer. Any missing people or children will be taken to one of the reunification locations:
UMB Bank, 928 Grand Blvd.
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department, 1125 Locust St.
T-Mobile Center Concourse, 14th Street and Grand Boulevard.
Resurrection Downtown, 1601 Grand Blvd.
UMB Bank, 1800 Grand Blvd.
Blue Cross & Blue Shield – West side entrance, 2301 Main St.
Lunchland at Crown Center, 2475 Grand Blvd., on the third level above SEA LIFE Aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center.
The Kansas City Fire Department will have roving crews as well as a staffed medical tent on the east side of the National WWI Museum between the north and south lawn.
For those requiring emergency medical attention, they should seek out a roving firefighter, who will be wearing fluorescent green vests and flags. Fire crews will be located on the perimeter of the parade route and at Union Station
Accessibility, how to watch
For those with special needs, parade organizers have designated space in Crown Center Square for wheelchairs and accessibility for those with disabilities. Space is limited.
American Sign Language interpreters will be at the rally and they will be shown on the video boards during the rally.
For information on ADA parking, visit the websites of Crown Center, Union Station and the National World War I Museum and Memorial.
Contact Erica Good, Kansas City ADA Liaison at 816-513-1818 with any questions related to accessibility. Jamie Guillen, is director of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity for Kansas City.
To report any ADA concerns through 311, click here.
KSBH41, the official broadcast partner for the parade, will air the celebration live KSHB41 and stream on kshb.com.
Will T-Swift show?
Fans of pop superstar Taylor Swift are wondering: Will she hit the Valentine’s Day victory parade with her beau (and Chiefs tight end) Travis Kelce?
It would be a difficult play.
As the megastar globe-trots through her Eras Tour, Swift is performing Friday in Melbourne, Australia. Accounting for flight time, and the time difference in Kansas City, she would need to depart by 8 a.m. Thursday to land in Melbourne right when the show starts, according to a Star analysis.
Swift, meanwhile, has not said one way or the other if she’ll be in town.
Balmy day for a parade
Layer up, Kansas City. But bring sunscreen, too.
It’ll be a cold start early Wednesday for parade-goers, with a forecasted temperature of 36 degrees at 7 a.m. But the temperature is expected to rise substantially as the day wears on, reaching 55 degrees by parade start time at 11 a.m. and 62 degrees by 3 p.m.
Jonathan Kurtz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Kansas City, suggested fans wear layers to stay comfortable throughout the day and pack a bottle of sunscreen.
“It will be a good day for a parade,” Kurtz said.
The Star’s Eleanor Nash, Noelle Alviz-Gransee and Bill Lukitsch contributed to this report.
